BIRDS 453 



Probably some of the birds reported to me formerly as ' Eared 

 Grebes' were Sclavonian Grebes, but two excellent observers 

 have met with local specimens. Dr. Parker procured the first 

 in the neighbourhood of Ravenglass, and this, I understand, was 

 preserved and can be seen. This is all the more satisfactory 

 because the most recent specimen was past preserving when 

 found. It was Mr. Richard Mann who found this second 

 specimen washed up dead near Allonby in September 1891, 

 after a spell of bad weather. It was an adult, still retaining a 

 good deal of summer dress, and the upturned bill decided the 

 species beyond a doubt. It was found impossible, however, to 

 make a skin of it. 



LITTLE GREBE. 



Podicipes jiuviatilis (Tunstall). 



The Little Grebe used to nest almost gregariously at Moor- 

 thwaite before the birds were driven away from their favourite 

 haunts by the encroachments , of the Black-headed Gulls. Our 

 northern rivers do not seem to be as well adapted to the 

 requirements of this Grebe as the sluggish streams of the south 

 of England. The Dabchick is accordingly scarce as a breeding 

 bird, though certain favourite stations are occupied every year. 

 In autumn and winter the species is widely distributed, and 

 may often be seen diving through the waterweeds in the vicinity 

 of several species of wildfowl. I have seen examples which had 

 been killed on the Solway Firth, but the bird is not common in 

 the tideway of that estuary. 



Order TUBINARES. Fam. PROCELLARIIDJE. 



FULMAR. 



Fulmarus glacialis (L.). 



It might be supposed that a species so well known in the 

 North Atlantic as the Fulmar would stray at frequent intervals 

 to the N.W. coast of England ; but this plausible supposition 

 has been entirely belied by our experience during the last 

 hundred years. Neither Dr. Heysham, T. C. Heysham, nor Dr. 



