348 
PODICIPITIDJE. 
coating of lime, which in some places gives the shell a roughened 
appearance, the eggs however become quickly discoloured with the 
decaying vegetable matter of which the nest is composed, and 
before they are hatched often become of a reddish-brown tint. 
Dimensions of a set taken in October 1883, are as follows :—length 
(A) 1-6 x 1-09 inch ; (B) 1-62 x 1-07 inch; (C) l'Gfi x 1-08 inch ; 
(D) P55 x 1-05 inch. 
This species commences to breed in October and continues 
during the three following months. 
Uab. Wide Bay District, Richmond and Clarence Rivers 
Districts, New South Wales, Interior, Victoria and South 
Australia, Tasmania, West and South-West Australia. ( Ramsay .) 
PODICEPS NOViE-HOLLANDIiE, Stephen. 
(P. gularis, Gould.) 
Black-throated Grebe. 
Gould, Sandbk. Bds. Aust., Vol. ii., sp. 667, p. 513. 
Unlike the preceding species, this Grebe is widely dispersed over 
the whole continent of Australia, and is particularly abundant on 
the swamps and lagoons of Victoria, and the inland waters of 
New South Wales. The nest is similar to that of the preceding 
species, being composed of sedges and other aquatic herbage, 
and attached to a few reeds in the water ; they are often placed 
within a few feet of each other. While sitting, the female covers 
herself over with the outer portions of the nest, her head and 
neck alone being visible; when leaving the nest, she covers 
her eggs over, and dives at once, reappearing about ten or fifteen 
yards away. During 1873 many nests of this species were 
procured in a single afternoon from the Albert Park lake near 
Melbourne. The eggs are bluish-white when first laid, thinly 
coated with lime, but quickly becoming soiled with the wet and 
decaying weeds of which the nest is formed. Eggs usually five 
in number for a sitting, although six are occasionally found, they 
