PODICEPS POLIOCEPHALUS, (nobis). 

 Hoary-headed Grebe. 



PLATE XIII. 



P. supra brurmeus, plumis capiti, genisque elongatis, apicibus albis, subtus argenteo- 

 albidus. 



J. he length of this species appears to be about eleven inches ; but the diffi- 

 culty of measuring a specimen correctly after it has been stuffed, must allow 

 for any error in its dimensions. The bill is an inch and an eighth long, green- 

 ish-yellow, with the edges paler ; the forehead, crown, and upper part of the 

 back of the neck, blackish-brown, shaded into the paler tint of the cheeks 

 and neck, and at the back of the neck coming to a point, and mixing with 

 the colours of that part ; the tips of the feathers on the forehead, above the 

 eyes, on the cheeks, and extending half-way down the sides of the neck, are 

 considerably elongated, and are pure white, giving to those parts a very white 

 or hoary appearance ; the back of the neck, back and wings, are dull umber- 

 brown, darkest on the back, and there having the feathers occasionally tipped 

 with white or yellowish-brown ; the throat, neck, and upper part of the breast, 

 are dull yellowish-brown ; the belly and vent are of the beautiful silvery 

 white, common to the genus, passing at the sides and under the wings into 

 pale yellowish-brown ; the secondaries are white, with irregular patches of pale 

 umber-brown near the tips, and form a broad bar which crosses the wings, 

 but is apparent only when they are expanded ; the legs and feet are black- 

 ish-green. 



We have not met with this species in any collection, and can with a con- 

 siderable degree of confidence assert it to be undescribed. It is a native of 

 New Holland, from whence we received a single specimen some years since, 

 but without any notes regarding it. It is a perfectly typical species, and 

 agrees with the true Grebes in the general form, plumage, and colours. 



(IS) 



