148 
BRITISH BIRDS, 
riods of life ; and we are likewife as certain that the 
birds which have been pointed out to us as the Ge- 
neva Grebes, have been no other than young ones 
of the Great-crefled, not having yet attained the 
crell: ; and whoever will compare Brilfon’s three 
figures of the birds in queflion, will find ^ (the crefl 
excepted) that they all exadly coincide, allowing 
for their different periods of age. We have been 
further led into this opinion from the circumftance 
of a large flock of them, which appeared in various 
parts of the fliores of the Thames, from Gravefend 
to Greenwich, lafl: winter, many of which were kill- 
ed, and came under our infpedion: among them 
we found the greatefl: variety about the head, from 
being perfectly without a crefl, to the mofl com- 
plete one, with all the intermediate ftages above- 
mentioned.’^ 
In the progrefs of this work, the author has been 
favoured, by fporting friends, with feveral of thefe 
birds, which differed from each other in the man- 
ner defcribed by Mr Latham, and induced him to 
adopt the opinion of that gentleman concerning 
them, 
