I GREAT CHEATED GREBE.
r o u n d the neck, d i s p l a y ed at pleasure, bright ferruginous, edged below
•with glossy greyish black, often with p u r p l e and green reflections;
t h e back of the head and the neck next to the ruff are of a chesnut
r e d and brownish black colour; nape, dusky brown tinted with grey,
a n d often glossed with green and purple. Chin, throat, and breast
above, orange buff of a paler or richer tint, which fades after death;
below, silvery white, the sides dashed with brown and chesnut. Back,
d u s k y grey, with here and there green and purple reflections.
T h e wings e x p a n d to the width of two feet six inches; lesser wing
coverts, d u s k y b r o w n ; primaries, dull b l a c k ; secondaries, white, forming
a n oblique bar across the wings when closed, but most visible when
t h e wings are e x t e n d e d ; tertiaries, buff orange, of a paler or deeper
h u e : they have on their outer webs a n a r r ow black edge. Tail, short,
a n d dusky greyish brown. The legs are deep greyish green on the
front, and behind pale yellowish green, the scales forming a double
r i d g e . The full plumage and crest are not acquired until the end
of the third year.
I n the female, which is not so large as the male, the bill is dull
vermilion at the base; the crest is a l i t t l e smaller. Head on the back,
t h e feathers being long, loose, and somewhat hackled, crown, and
n e c k , r e d d i s h brown; chin and throat, w h i t e ; breast, yellowish white
above, g r e y on the sides, below yellowish white, but sometimes tending
to orange buff. The greater wing coverts are broadly tipped with
w h i t e ; primaries, greyish black; secondaries, partly white, exhibiting
a s p e c u l um of that colour; tertiaries, deep greyish black; the shafts
black. Tegs and toes, dull reddish orange.
The young are at first clothed in reddish brown and greyish white
down. Mr. Y a r r e l l says f F o r some time after they are hatched, the
y o u n g chicks have their bills mottled black and white; the head and
n e c k ornamented with long dark stripes on a g r o u n d colour of dull
g r e y i s h w h i t e ; the u p p e r surface of the body dark brown, with long
i t u d i n a l stripes of light b r o w n ; the whole under surface white.'
In the immature plumage, the eye is y e l l o w ; there is but little crest
u n d e r two y e a r s ; the forehead is white, and on the front of the
h e a d and the neck arc numerous dusky zigzag l i n e s ; the red about
t h e h e a d is w a n t i n g , and there is a dusky streak in front of and under
t h e e y e ; the sides are dashed with yellowish brown.