246 
A GROUP OF GREBES. 
The Crested Grebe {Podiceps crestatus), sometimes 
called the Tippet Grebe, or Crested Ducker ; the Gaunt 
Cargoose. 
The Red-necked Grebe (P. rulricollis)^ also called 
the Grey-cheeked Grebe. 
The Horned Grebe (P. cornutus)^ also called the 
Sclavonian Grebe, or Horned Dobchick. 
The Eared Grebe (P. auritus). 
The family Podicipince includes the Grebes, of which 
the above are British, and some allied species: they are 
birds of peculiar aspect, readily distinguishable from all 
others, having a body of an elliptical form and much de- 
pressed, especially behind, where it forms, when the legs 
are extended, a broad thin edge : the neck is long and 
slender, the head small, oblong, compressed, and gradually 
tapering behind. They have remarkably soft and blended 
plumage, with a silky gloss on the lower parts ; their tails 
are mere tufts of small downy feathers, called, in scientific 
language, plumules ; and their heads and necks are generally 
ornamented with crests, ruifs, or tippets, which are de- 
veloped in spring, and disappear in autumn. They are 
true palmipedes — that is, having feet palmated, or shaped 
like the palm of the hand with the fingers spread, only 
showing but three lobes, or divisions, instead of four, as in 
the human hand. These lobes are connected by a web, 
which gives them great power in swimming. ^ 
The Crested Grebe is the largest species of its genus, the 
male measuring about twenty-foiu' inches in length ; it has 
a sharp-pointed beak, about two inches long, and a long 
slender neck, to which the head, in consequence of the ruff 
or tippet extending far beyond the neck on either side, and, 
asit were, cutting it off, scarcely seems to belong. The ruff, 
like the crest, of which there are two tufts longer than the 
rest, is of a ricli dark brown ; the neck behind, with the 
back, wings, rump and short tuft-like tail, are greyish 
brown, and all the rest of the plumage is a delicate white, 
from the silky appearance of which the bird has obtained 
the name of the Satin Grebe. Its skin is in great request 
on the Continent, being used for making muffs, trimmings 
