202 
PODXCIPINiE. PODICEPS. 
claws small, depressed, the third expanded, and serrulate at 
the end. Plumage very soft and blended, on the lower 
parts silky ; scapulars very long and decurved ; wings small ; 
primaries eleven, small, the outer two longest ; tail a slight 
tuft of minute downy feathers. 
The Grebes are extensively distributed, but not numerous 
as to species, inhabiting chiefly fresh water, but also occur- 
ring on the sea, and especially estuaries. They swim and 
dive with surprising agility ; feed on fishes, reptiles, and 
insects ; fly with rapidity ; form a bulky nest, and lay nu- 
merous oblong white eggs. The young presently after being 
hatched betake themselves to the water. All the species 
swallow feathers. 
27l. PODICEPS CRISTATUS. CRESTED GREBE. 
Male about twenty-four inches in length, with the bill two 
inches long, slender, compressed, carmine-red, the ridge dusky, 
the tips yellowish-grey ; a transverse occipital crest, with two 
more elongated tufts, and a large ruff on the cheeks and fore 
neck ; the upper parts greyish-black, the lower silvery white, 
the ruff light red anteriorly, black behind, the sides of the 
body reddish-brown ; most of the secondary quills, the hu- 
meral s, and the anterior edge of the wing, white. Female 
smaller, similar to the male, but with the tufts and ruff shorter. 
Young without crest or ruff, dusky grey above, silvery white 
beneath. 
Male, 23, 34, 7 t 8 ^ 2 t V, 2 A, 2J, A- Female, 19, 32. 
This species, the largest of its genus, is extensively dis- 
persed over the northern parts of both Continents. It breeds 
in various parts of Britain, forming a large nest, and laying 
four eggs of an elongated elliptical form, two inches and a 
quarter in length, only an inch and a half in breadth, green- 
ish-white, and at length generally soiled with mud. It feeds 
on fishes, frogs, insects, and mollusca. More individuals are 
seen with us in winter, there being probably accessions from 
more northern countries. The plumage, being dense and 
glossy, is sometimes used in place of fur. 
Colymbus cristatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 222.— Podiceps cris- 
tatus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 780.™ Podiceps cristatus, Temm. 
Man. d’ Ornith. ii. 717. — Podiceps cristatus, Crested Grebe, 
MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 
Greater Crested Grebe, Tippet Grebe, Crested Ducker, 
Gaunt, Cargoose. 
