Genus PODICEPS

Gen. Cuar. Bill lengthened, strong, slightly compressed, straight, and pointed. Nos¢rils

lateral, basal, linear, pierced in the middle of the nasal fosse ; ; space between the corner of

the bill and the eye naked. Wings short and concave. Tazl none. Legs placed at the
posterior extremity of the body, the «bw being inclosed within the integuments of the
abdomen. Tarse much compressed. Feet consisting of four toes, three before and one
behind ; the front ones much flattened, and each furnished with a broad membrane. Nai/s

large, flat, and broad. Plumage soft, downy, and thick, with a silky lustre.

GREAT CRESTED GREBE.

Podiceps cristatus, Lath.

Le Grebe huppé.

Tue Podiceps cristatus is not only the largest of all the European species of its genus, but may be regarded
as one of the most typical examples. It is a native of the British Islands as well as of all the temperate
portions of continental E wurope, everywhere frequenting lakes, large ponds, the mouths of rivers, or the
borders of the sea. In these situations it remains during the greater part of the year, eluding pursuit by its
extraordinary powers of diving, and capability of remaining cbmc beneath the surface of the water. We
have also received numerous examples from Asia and Africa, which proved to be strictly identical with
European specimens.

The Plate represents a young bird of the year, and an adult during the season of incubation, at which
period it assumes the rich ornamental crest and tippet which are then so conspicuous. It is the immature
bird which is described by the older writers as the Tippet Grebe, and which so nearly represents the adults
in their winter dress, as to render any further description unnecessary ; a mistake which modern ornithologists
have rectified.

The full or red stage of plumage, in which the frill and crest appear, is not acquired until the third year,
and even then, in its greatest luxuriance, is only the ornament of the season of pairing and incubation, the
elongated plumes of the cheeks and head being lost, as we suspect, on the approach of winter. There is
another peculiarity common to this and the rest of the Grebes which requires notice ; we allude to the
circumstance of the stomach being found after death commonly filled with a mass of feathers from the breast,
but whether swallowed for the purpose of assisting the powers of digestion or not, it is impossible to
conjecture. The nest is composed of masses of decayed aquatic vegetables, secured amidst the herbage on
the margin of the water, with the variations of which it rises or falls. The eggs are three or four in number,
of a greenish white stained with brown. Their food consists of fish, crustacea, and aquatic insects.

The plumage of this species may be thus described: Crown of the head and occipital tuft or ear-feathers
deep greyish black ; the frill black at its extreme edge, and rich chestnut throughout the greater part of the
rest of its length, gradually fading off into the white of the cheeks and throat ; the whole of the upper
plumage brownish black, with a white bar across the wings ; the under Si ee silvery white, becoming
rufous on the flanks ; the tarsus and toes dark olive green on the upper side, on the under side pale yellow ;
bill dark horn colour ; irides red.

In winter the plumage resembles that of the summer, except that the richly coloured frill and elongated
ear-feathers are wholly wanting. The sexes at either season offer no external differences in the plumage.

The figures in the Plate are somewhat less than the natural size.