2o8 
ALI.En’s naturalist’s LIIJRARY. 
hinder part of the latter, as well as the sides of the hinder 
Clown and entire sides of the neck, deep chestnut, extending 
across the lower throat ; the chin and upper throat black, with 
an indication of a narrow blackish line of feathers down the 
chestnut portion of the throat ; fore-neck, breast, and sides of 
body black ; the centre of the breast and abdomen blackish, 
but overlaid with a silvery white gloss ; the lower flanks and a 
patch on each side of the rump, cinnamon rufous, many of the 
feathers tipped and black ; axillaries and under wing-coverts, 
white ; quills below ashy, whitish at the base ; bill black, with 
the tip yellowish, and the gape conspicuously greenish-yellow j 
bare spaces between the eye and the base of the bill blackish ; 
legs and feet olive-green, paler on the webs ; iris hazel. Total 
length, 8'5 inches; culmen, r'o; wing, 4'o ; tail, I’z; tarsus, i’3. 
Adult Female In Breeding Plumage. — Resembles the male. Total 
length, 8-0 inches; wing, 
Winter Plumage. — General colour above brown, the wings a 
little darker and more blackish, with the inner webs of the 
secondaries entirely white ; crown of head and neck dark brown ; 
lores and ear-coverts light brown, with a whity-brown streak 
above the latter ; sides of neck and the lower throat reddish- 
brown ; cheeks and throat white; remainder of under surface 
of body silky white ; the sides of the body rufous-brown, with 
dusky centres to the feathers. 
Nestling.— General colour brown, with longitudual black and 
rufous streaks down the back, the head less distinctly striped ; 
under surface of body dingy white, wdth black and rufous 
streaks on the throat and sides of neck. 
Young in first Winter. — Similar to the winter plumage of the 
adult, but generally with dusky streaks on the sides of the face. 
Range in Great Britain. — The Litt'e Grebe is found every- 
where in localities suited to its habits, though it is rarer towards 
Scotland and the North generally. In Ireland, Mr. Ussher 
says, it is reported from every county, and it breeds commonly 
throughout the country, in suitable localities, on lakes, ponds, 
and rivers. 
Range outside the British Islands. — The present species is an 
inhabitant of temperate Europe and Asia, and Japan. It does 
