GREAT CRESTED GREBE.
species, lln-small family grew far less limiii, taking in course of time lint little mil ice of the punl at. the
distance nf forty or lifty yards. This brood in their infancy corresponded precisely with the young figured
liy Gouhl, with the exception thai the bare patch on the crown of the head exhibited a pale ilesh tint, instead
of the deep red depicted in the plate, that hue not being assumed till three or four boon after death. Later
in the season I captured another young bird, out of a brood of four, probably ten days or a fortnight old, and
endeavoured to rear it, small lish and water-in sects being ndminist civil as food. Nothing that we offered
appeared palatable; and after surviving two or three days without nourishment, the unfortunate became
gradually weaker, and in the end succumbed to exhaustion.
A few lines exlraeled from my notes will give an idea of the food on which this species subsets while
resorting to the freshwater broads:—" July .1, 1**7S. While fishing on Ormshy Broad, I noticed a number
of broods, some newly hatched, while others were almost full-grown. Whether large or small, these juveniles
appeared equally helpless, making not the slightest attempt to capture fish for themselves, but depending
entirely on their parents. The youngsters followed at a respectful distance, the old birds diving occasionally,
and when reappearing with prey one or other of the family would instantly swim up ami claim its share.
A keeper in the district, considered an authority on such matters, assured me that Grebes always rear their
young on eels; to-day, however, I watched numerous broods fed repeatedly, and the food supplied appeared
in most instances to consist of small roach. The operation was watched through powerful glasses at the
distance of from forty lo sixty yards, so there could scarcely have been any error as to the identity of the
captives, a clear view being obtained of the fish i\ lute in the beak of the captor.
'* July 2."i. Wind south-west, still and fine ; the surface of the broad like a sheet or glass at daybreak. A
pair of old Grclies (now showing a slight diminution in the frill) wen' teen with two young; as the latter were
in a state (apparently between three and five weeks old) not prei iotisly examined, I seeun-d both with but little
dilllculty, when the difference in size proved remarkable, one liemg double the weight of the other. Both
exhibited a paten of hare lath on the crown or the head, as well as in a line between the eye and the gape.
The beak was black at the base on both mandibles, the remainder white with a narrow black mark near
(be point. Iris grey; legs and feet yellow and black mottled. Breast feathered ; head, neck, and back
still covered with down, no feathers showing on the wing. The stomach of the larger only contained a few
feathers, apparently from the old bird, while the smaller had in addition a couple of perch befweeu two and
three inches in length.'1
The courtship of this species is an excenlingly amusing scene, and is referred to repeatedly in mjr
notes. Under heading of March Gtb, 1»73, I find the following:—"This was the first day of the Season that
Loons were noticed on the broad, a pair in the llickling corner proving unusually fearless. For overall hour
1 watched them sailing rnimd one another, and occasionally pulling up and bowing their heads in the most
singular manner. Whenever a halt was made the two birds swam up alongside and at once brought up, so
that each faced the opposite direction. The grunts and squeals they gave vent to and the antics gone through
need to lie heard and seen to form the slighte-t idea as lo their quaiutness; to describe them accurately is
utterly impossible." Ou May loth, 1S«3, weather fine and hot, I again witnessed a most singular
demonstration. The birds were evidently engaged in courting, though from time to time they desisted, and
proceeded to wash and clean their plumage, the movements the pair went through iH-ing almost precisely
identical. To conclude the performance, each Irimmed the feathers of the other, like the Guillemots and
Uanuets repeatedly watctieil mi the Bass Rock; I remarked that the bird operated upon stretched its head
upwards while the other paid particular attention to preening the short feathers of the throat and neck.
These noisy greeti• gs not unfrequently BUM place in the reed-bushes; I have repeatedly listened to pairs catling
loudly and to the splashing of the water, though the birds themselves were invisible. From the lieginning
of March till the middle of May the discordant sounds uttered by the Grebes may be heard in still weather.
GREAT CRESTED GEE BR.
ITaviug occasionally [alien in with these birds in early spring exhibiting a curious mollled state of
plumage about the head and neck, the colour of the iris also being or various tints, from lemon-vclluw (o
orange, I am inclined to believe that the young do not assume the full crest till after the age of one year.
As none hut birds in full summer plumage are seen about their sunnner-haunls till the downy youngsters make
their appear ii it is probable that, after the fashion of many of the sea-fowl, the immature birds arc not
allow eil lo associate w itb the adults, and ncei-ssarlly seek other quarters. On llie l l l l i of March, 1*71, a small
party of hall' a down were observed on lleigbnni Sounds : the birds proving shy, ii was impossible to obtain a
satisfactory i iew through the glasses; anil being anxious to asi-erlain their state of plumage, I tired the big gun
and secured four. Though the specimens varied considerably it was improbable Ihat any would have assumed
the full adult dn-ss that season. Ou one occasion so early as the lSth of January, and often in February, I
met with the Great Crested Grebe in full summer plumage. Doubtless the frills increase in lise and richness
of colouring with the age of Ike birds; I remarked that the elongated feathers of the ears as well as the
crest of a pair shot in the cast of Norfolk ou the 2oth of May, 1S7", wen- lillle mure than half Ibe length or
those on au obi male obtained near the same spot on the 30th of May, 1S73. 1 Ibid only one entry in my
journals referring lo the date at which the adults commence to throw off the crest and assume the winter
p l u m a g e " September 25th, 137U. The I,oons had now lost the greater part of the frill and could hardly be
distinguished from the young at tile distance of eighty or one hundred yards."
By closely watching a nest discovered on lieigham Sounds In May 1S7I), I ascertained that the eggs were
laid on alternate days ; subsequent observations also tended lo prove that lids is the rule. Wheat fresh laid,
the egg is a pale bluish white, though it speedily assumes a dirty yellow tint, stained by the deiiiyiug waterplants
with which the bird artfully conceals its treasures when leaving tl est.
As previously staled, it was seldom during the winter months that I observed these hinls frequenting
their sumuier-haunts ; one or two, however, occasionally return, and having alighted on the ice, utterly
bewildered by the change, flutter and slide along the surfaco from which the snow has drifted, and experience
much diflieulfy ia rising again on wing. The Plate represents a sii-ne of this description witnessed ou
llickling Broad in December W l : the specimens from which fhe figures are taken wen- obtained at sea, off
Shoreham, while in pursuit of small fry in the shallow water over the snud-baiiks on the lltti of December,
1871). The following were the colours of the soft parts :—Iris bright cerise, with a white ring round pupil.
1'pper mandible pale Ilesh, with a dark line along the ridge. Legs dark greyish green on the outer, yellow on
the inner side. Toes yellow with a green tinge, showing clouded blotches lad a dark scrawl down each toe.
Nail on each toe a pale lead lint.