PODICEPS NIGRICOLLIS.
Eared Grebe.
Colymbus nigricollis, Brehm, Blas. List of Birds of Europe, Engl. edit. p. 24.

recurvirostris, Brehm.
Podiceps auritus, Temm. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 705, et tom. iv. p. 451 (not Linneus).

 

I am somewhat surprised that so many of my brother naturalists should fall into the error of assigning to
this bird a northern habitat ; I question if Linneeus ever saw it, and I believe that his Podiceps auritus has
reference to the Sclavonian Grebe of English authors. Yarrell adds to the confusion by stating that the
bird is also found in the Falkland Islands and some parts of the United States, which it certainly is not.
Under these circumstances, and with a doubt still remaining in my mind as to its identity with the
P. auritus of Linneus, I have no alternative but to follow Dr. Blasius, and adopt the specific term of mericollis
assigned to it by Brehm, retaining of course the trivial name of Eared Grebe, by which it has always been
known amongst us.

In the British Islands the Podiceps nigricollis has been more frequently killed in summer than in winter,
although I know of numerous instances in which it has been shot in the latter season. These lacustrine
birds are truly interesting ;_ for how varied and how differently adorned are the species of the minor subdivisions
of this somewhat limited family. Those persons who do not study ornithology as a whole, but confine their
attention to the birds of a single country, are not prepared for the fact that all our Grebes, although kept
in this work under the one generic title of Podiceps, are representatives of as many genera as there are
species, and that in Australia the present bird is represented by the P. poliocephalus, our little Grebe by
the P. gularis, and our Great Crested Grebe by the P. australis; in other countries, too, similar represen-
tatives occur. This will prepare my readers for the fact that these forms are very generally dispersed, some
being confined to the high northern latitudes, while others dwell in more temperate and even warmer climes,
as is the case with the bird now before us. In England, which it visits annually, it frequents the southern
and eastern counties, rather than the northern; in Holland and Germany it is not more numerous than with
us ; in some parts of France, in Spain, and Italy it becomes more common; while in northern Africa, from
Morocco to Egypt, no water-bird can be more abundant, wherever meres and great reed-covered sheets
of water occur. Every one who has visited that country, and particularly Algeria, testify to its abundance
and wide-spread distribution. Dr. Heuglin found it breeding in Egypt, and the Rev. H. B. Tristram in
Algeria. The notes respecting this species by the latter gentleman I find so interesting, that I make no
apology for transcribing them.

‘‘ Every here and there we came upon a nest of the Little Grebe (Podiceps minor), and occasionally upon
that of the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) ; but it was rather late for both these species, which
build before the end of April, and already several broods had been hatched. Still fifty eggs of one, and
about a dozen of the other, was not a bad morning’s take. At length, in a little secluded opening, entirely
surrounded by tall reeds, through which we had the greatest difficulty in forcing the punt, we came upon a
colony of Eared Grebes (Podiceps auritus), the chief object of my search. There appears to be this singular
difference between the Eared and the Crested or Lesser Grebes—that while the two latter, though abundant
throughout the Lake, are not strictly gregarious, the former builds in societies more denselty crowded than
any rookery. It is also later in its nidification ; for, of nearly fifty nests I examined, not one was incubated,
though most contained their full allowance of four or five eggs. The nests, formed like those of other
Grebes, were raised on artificial islets, frequently almost touching each other, and sometimes piled on stout
foundations rising from more than a yard under water. The eggs are a trifle smaller than those of P. sela-
voncus, which appear to do duty for them in many collections. We shot several of the birds, which, of
course, were in very fine plumage, but we were not a little puzzled by the sudden disappearance of several
which had fallen dead within twenty yards of us. At length, on pushing out in our punt into the open
water, I detected the Water-Tortoises carrying off at great speed our wounded and dead birds, and, following
the streak of blood through the water, at length seized one struggling with bis captor, who maintained so
tenacious a grasp that I hauled him on board along with the bird, and took care to secure him too for my
collection. With this proof of the carnivorous propensities of the Water-Tortoise, I am inclined to believe
that the havoc in the nests of Coots and Ducks may often be attributed to this plunderer. Nor are the
Water-Tortoise and the Purple Gallinule the only ‘ oophagi’ against whom these poor birds have to combat
in the struggle for perpetuating their species. A Water-Snake frequently takes up his abode in a Coot’s nest
and boldly drives off the rightful proprietor. An empty nest seems to be his favourite dwelling-place ; and