464 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
in northern Africa and in the temperate regions of Asia. 
To Scotland and Ireland it is a very rare straggler ; and is 
but an irregular visitor in spring and summer to the east 
coast of England, where there is evidence that it may have 
nested more than once, as well as elsewhere in Great 
Britain.* 
THE LITTLE GREBE. Podicipes fluviatilis (Tunstall). 
Local names— Dabchick ; Wee Diver ; Wee Douker. 
A common resident, frequenting many of our lakes in spring, and the 
larger rivers and lakes in winter. 
The first record we have of the Little Grebe is in 1832, when 
Sir WiUiam Jardine included it in his Hst as one of the birds 
of the parish of Applegarth and Sibbaldbie, and refers to it 
as common in the River Annan " during winter in pairs, 
or in smaU parties of five or six."t In 1843 he writes : 
" In our own vicinity there are many suitable places, but 
we are not aware that it incubates, though very common 
in winter. . . . We never saw it attempt to save itself 
by flight, except once, when we suddenly came upon a party 
of four or five, towards evening, in very shallow water."{ 
Two specimens, labelled as shot "on the River Annan," 
are recorded in the catalogue of his collection. § 
Speaking in 1900 of the past century's changes in the 
vertebrates of Solway, Mr. R. Service says of the Little 
Grebe : " This is another addition to our breeding residents. 
It was first noted nesting at Falbae Loch, in Parton [Kirk- 
cudbrightshire] in 1876, and since then it has been noticed in 
several other locaHties."|| Mr. R. Service further informs 
* Brit. Birds (Mag.), Vol. II., p. 368. 
t New Stat. Acct. Scot., Vol. IV., p. 182. 
t Nat. Lib., 1843, Vol. XIV., pp. 209, 210. 
§ Cat. Birds in coll. Sir W. J., p. 209 (8523), a, a. 
II Trans. D. and G. Nat. Hist. Soc, November 20th, 1900. 
