448 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Distribution. — England. — One. Exhausted bird picked up near 

 Linton (Cambs.), July 9, 1897 (E. A. Butler, Ibis, 1897, p. 625). 

 [A bird supposed to have been an Albatros, was seen by Mr. J. A. 

 Harvie-Brown twenty miles north-west of Orkneys, July 18, 1894 

 {Ann. Scott. N.H., 1895, p. 57).] 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Seas near Cape of Good Hope, occasion- 

 ally straying into European waters (lat. 80° 11' N., long. 4° E., 

 Faeroes). Probably widely spread in southern oceans, but several 

 other subspecies (New Zealand and Australian seas, Kerguelen Is., 

 and west coast of S. America) have been separated. 



Order PYGOPODES. 



Contains the Grebes and Divers. Holorhinal, schizognathous ; 

 no basi-pterygoid processes. First primary rudimentary. Aquin- 

 tocubital. Tail very short. Toes lobed or completely connected 

 by webs, outer toe longest. Tibia entirely feathered. Tarsus 

 strongly compressed laterally, thus showing sharp ridge in front 

 and behind. Pullus covered with down, nidifugous. 



Key to families of Order Pygopodes. 



Toes completely connected by webs . Colymbidje. 



Toes lobed ...... Podicipid^e. 



A. Great Crested Grebe (Podtceps c. cristatus). B. Red-throated Diver (Colymbus stellatus). 



Family PODICIPID^E. 



1st to 4th dorsal vertebrae fused ; spina externa and interna 

 absent ; sternum notched, much shorter than in Colymbid^e. 

 11 developed and 1 rudimentary primary, as a rule less than 20 

 secondaries. Toes with lobes on both sides, wider on inner, united 

 at base. Hind -toe above level of outer toes. Claws short and flat. 

 Plumage soft, fur -like, partly disintegrated, rectrices vestigial, 

 mostly difficult to distinguish. Pullus striped. 3 genera generally 

 admitted, only one in Europe, other two American. Fresh- vr ter 

 birds. 



