PYGOPODES. PODICIPEDIDÆ.
P odiceps auritus (Linnseus *).
THE SCLAVONIAN GREBE.
Podiceps cornutus.
The Sclavonian Grebe was first described as a visitor to
Britain by Montagu, from an example obtained at Truro, in
May, 1796. It is a northern species which is decidedly rare
on our south and south-west coasts, but it annually visits
our eastern waters from autumn to spring; being, according
to Mr. Cordeaux, the commonest of the Grebes at the mouth
of the Humber. Mr. Stevenson states that, from his notes,
which extend over thirty years, the Sclavonian Grebe has
been obtained on the Norfolk coast in about the following
proportion—October one, November five, December one,
* Colijmbus auritus, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 222 (1766). It is
unfortunate that the specific name undoubtedly conferred upon this bird by
Linnaeus should have been diverted to its smaller and more southern congener,
the Eared Grebe, P. nigricollis.
January nine, February twelve, March four, and a pair in
full nuptial dress were killed on Sutton Broad on the 16tli
of April, 1862. The finest specimen the Author ever saw
was purchased when fresh killed by his friend Mr. John
Morgan, in May, 1826, of a dealer from Yarmouth, who
obtained it from one of those boatmen that fish and shoot
on the broads in that neighbourhood, and having been preserved
by Mr. Leadbeater, was given to him by Mr. Morgan
in July, 1827.
On the coasts of Northumberland and Durham Mr.
Hancock says that it is not uncommon in winter, and he
has one in full summer plumage shot off Cullercoats on the
26th April, 1830; Mr. C. M. Adamson also has a similar
specimen shot on the 30th of April, 1860. Northwards it
becomes more frequent, and Mr. R. Gray says that in spring
it is a very conspicuous species on the western sea-lochs of
Scotland up to the last week of April, and a pair was shot
on the Loch of Killisport, Argyllshire, on the 20th of June,
1860, and exhibited by Dr. J. A. Smith at a meeting of the
Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. It occurs in the
Hebrides and the Orkneys; and Saxby says that in the
Shetlands it is the commonest of the Grebes, arriving in
October, leaving after a few days, and reappearing about
April, when it remains for some weeks; the birds seen in
May being nearly always in pairs.
To Ireland, according to Thompson, it is merely an occasional
winter visitant, and Mr. R. Warren informs the
Editor that on the west coast he has only obtained one out
of a pair on the 25th of October, 1878, and one on the
22nd of February, 1879.
The Sclavonian Grebe breeds in the northern portions of
Norway, Sweden, and Russia; and some couples nest in
Denmark, where, according to Mr. Benzon, it has increased
in numbers of late years. The correctness of Mr. Benzon’s
identification cannot be doubted, but it is remarkable that
in Thy, in Jutland, this northern species should be found
breeding over the same area as the next and southern
species, P. nigricollis, which on the other hand seems to
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