THE LITTLE GREBE. 
191 
of Carrickfergus/ alludes to it- as breeding at Lough Morne, and 
as being called Penny Bird In different parts of the same 
county (Antrim) it bears other names, being called by the country- 
people about Clough, Willie TlawYie, and by those about Toome 
by the still less elegant appellation of Tom Puddin. When on 
Lough Beg, near to this place, on the 3rd of August, 1846, I 
saw several of them;— by the name just mentioned, and that 
only, were they known to our boatman. It is a most unobtrusive 
species, and requires to be patiently looked for to be seen at all, 
unless it comes within our view by chance. It breeds in several 
localities around Belfast, and, though considered a bird of shy dis- 
position, sometimes selects for nidification very small ponds in 
much-frequented places. A locality of this kind in a bleach-green 
on the outskirts of the town on the Balls road was chosen for 
many seasons recently by a pair, which generally succeeded in 
bringing out their brood of five or six young in safety.! At the 
lake on whose borders Lissanoure Castle (county of Antrim) is 
situated, several pair of these grebes formerly bred every year, 
but they have become scarcer of late. Their nests were often 
found, and after a storm have been seen floating on the lake with 
the birds sitting on them.J 
When riding one day, in mild weather in the month of January, 
on the banks of the Lagan Canal, above the second docks, I was 
interested for some time in observing one of these birds, which, 
though quite near, evidently considered my presence no intrusion. 
It kept diving for food, and every time, on rising to the surface, 
showed that it had been successful, the motion of the mandibles 
indicating the breaking of its prey, probably water-beetles, before 
being swallowed. I was amused, as one often is in watching for 
the re-appearance of diving birds, to see it frequently rise to the 
surface in the direction opposite to that anticipated. “ The ra- 
* DrinJc-a-penny is a name applied to it in Strangford Lough, 
f “ June 17, 1808. Went to see a grebe’s nest at Lyster’s pond ; it had yolk- 
coloured eggs, about the size of a thrush’s, but longer shaped.” — Mr. Templeton’s 
Journal. 
+ Mr. B. Brooke, 1850. 
