LITTLE GREBE. 
209 
not range very far north in Europe, reac hing to 62° in Scan- 
dinavia, and it winters in the countries of the Mediterranean, 
as there are specimens in the British Museum from Marocco, 
P'gyPh Palestine, and Asia Minor ; it doubtless also breeds in 
these southern habitats. In China it is represented by an 
allied form, Podid/es philippemis, wh’ch breeds in China, and 
winters in the south in the Philippines, being replaced in the 
Moluccas by Podidpes irkolor. In India a white-quilled 
species takes its [rlace, Podidpes albipcnnis, while the African 
Little Grebe, Podicip/s capensis, is again distinct, and is 
represented in Madagascar by Podidpes pelselni. In Australia 
Podidpes gnlaris takes the place of P. flnviatilis, and in 
America the latter species is represented by Podidpes 
doniinictcs 
Habits. — One of the most interesting accounts of the habits 
of the Little Grebe is that contributed by Mr. Bryan Hook to 
Seebohm’s “ History of British Birds”:— 
“On the 25th of March I found a Dabchick’s nest on one of 
our small ponds about a foot from the water’s edge, partly 
concealed by a tuft of heather on the bank above it. The pond 
was at the bottom of a field where a man was ploughing, and 
at the end of each furrow’, as he jiassed the nest, the bird first 
carefully covered her eggs, then slipjred into the water without 
the slightest splash, and remained concealed under the evater 
amongst the reeds close to the nest. A fortnight afterwards I 
found the old bird very reluctant to move, and when, at last, 
she did dive aw.ay, she left her eggs uncovered. Two days 
later I found the old bird sitting in the nest with two young, 
and all dived away on my apirroach, the young ones coming 
up about five yards from the shore, where they floated motion- 
less. I did not see the young birds again until a fortnight 
later when I found them on the nest, wonderfully grown and 
able to dive about 1 5 yards. Nearly a month later, on the 
30th of May, the two young birds ivere full grown, and whilst 
one of the parents took charge of them, the other sat upon five 
eggs in another nest in a similar situation on the other tide of 
the pond. She was very restless, constantly getting off and 
on the nest. At length she found me out, and after carefully 
covering her eggs, slipped into the water behind the nest and 
Ls !• 
