•with them anywhere in the interior of the -country, except in
Scona, and in the southern provinces of Sweden, although
the whole of Northern Scandinavia abounds with lakes, - The
character of those lakes where alone I have seen and procured
specimens, .of the Red-necked Grebe, so far north as latitude
66, is precisely similar to that of the broads in Norfolk and-
the meres of Holland, where some of-the Grebes are so
numerous. Swedish ornithologists have confined the locality
of this Grebe to the southern parts of Sweden, but having
procured the old and young birds in August, and seen them
in considerable numbers two years in .succession. in the same
localities, no doubt can exist but that they are regular visits
ants. The eggs I did not'seef'but the peasants on finding
a nest are in the habit of leaving one egg, and the female
will continue to lay, as long as- <?ne is left, until nature is
exhausted. These Grebes are by no means shy, and when
undisturbed amongst the reeds and grass, keep up an incessant
croaking. .
They dp not, like many of the divers, £use.- .their wings
under water, but glide through it, however, with*e<pial swiftness,
and dart through thick entangled masses of weeds and
grass with the ease and rapidity of a fish. From the very
weedy nature of the waters they invariably; ■frequent;, using
their wings in diving would impede their ^progress. I have
had repeated opportunities of observing them when under
Water.’1
The Red-necked Grebe Is found in the eastern parts of
Europe, and in Germany, Holland, France, Switzerland,
Provence, and Italy. Messrs. Dickson and Ross sent the
Zoological Society specimens from Erzeroom. M. Tem-
minck says the same species is found in Japan ; it is found
also in North America,
The adult bird has both mandibles of the beak black, except
at the base, where it is yellow; the irides red ; top of
the head, and back of the neck, rich dark brown, almost
black; cheeks, chin, and throat, fine bluish-grey, margined
with white; back, wing-coverts,, tertials, and rump, dark
brown ; wing-primaries nearly black ; the secondaries white ;
•neck in front rich chestnut-red; breast and belly silky-white;
sides under the wing, the flanks, and under tail-coverts greyish
brown ; legs and toes dark greenish-brown on the outer
surface, the inner surface greenish-yellow; the whole length
sixteen inches and a half. From- the carpal joint to the
end? of the primaries'.se ven inches.
KHYoung birds-have the head and neek Behind dusky-brown;
the^bkck and wings neither s6 dark in the brown colour, nor
-so' uniform in the tint, as in the adult birds, the margins of
the feathers being ash-brown ; chin, throat, and neck in front
greyish-white; other parts as in the more adult birds,
I have se'en young birds more than half grown which exhibited
longitudinal dark stripes on a light ground-colour
down the heck.
The figure below represents the form of the foot in the
Grebes.