legs are black, naked near an inch above the knee ; the tarse an inch and a quarter
long, sharp, with a membrane before and at the back ; the three fore toes lobed, with
small curved black claws ; the centre toe the longest, and united at the base for a
short distance to the outer ; hind toe three-eighths of an inch long, and membranous.
The specimen has much the appearance of its being in its breeding dress, and having
its plumage of that state nearly complete; the irregular disposition of the chestnut.fea-
thers on the back leads to a supposition, however, that some further change was wanting
to make that part perfect. From the character of the feet and the general figure of
the bird, it is decidedly allied to the Phalaropes, and is consequently placed in that
genus. M. Cuvier, in his Règne Animal, separated the two only species then known into
two genera, Palaropus and Lobipes : there is a marked difference in the bills of the
two birds which will certainly justify their separation ; and if they are to be divided,
the present bird, being intermediate between them, will not perhaps agree sufficiently
to be united with either, thus a third genus must necessarily be created ; but in this
publication, it appears most expedient to consider all as belonging to one genus.
Podiceps Rubricollis. Red-necked Grebe.
Though the various writers on Birds have noticed the Red-necked Grebe and its
European habitats, especially that it has occasionally been killed in Great Britain, none
of them has mentioned I as a native of North America 1 the writer of these memoranda
had received specimens of it from Hudson’s Bay, before the specimen sent home by
Captain Franklin was put into his hands. Wilson has not given an account of any
one Grebe in his work, but though some species are sufficiently common to the southward,
yet it is probable that this does not reach far below Canada. The specimen
under description is fine, and seems to have been a mature individual. It measures
twenty-eight inches in length ; the bill from the opening of the mandibles
is two inches and a half long, the upper tnandible black, the lower horn-colour ; the
top of the head is a deep black, which is continued, though it is less intense, along
the back of the neck to the back, which with the whole upper parts is dark brown,
the throat and lower half of the neck from the lower mandible to the extent of about
two inches and a half are a very pale drab-colour ; this abruptly terminates in a ferruginous
marking which occupies the whole of the neck except the back part, and
spreads over the breast, but it is lighter and more glossy in this lower part ; the
under parts are a glossy white as in most other Grebes ; the secondaries of the wings
are white. It is the Jon-gris of the Planches Enliminêes.
Podiceps Carolinensis. Pied-bill Grebe.
This species is confined to America, and is the Colymbus Podiceps of Linneus. All
that has hitherto been published respecting it has been derived from Catesby’s figure
and account. It comes to New York and the Southern States in the autumn,
and leaves them again in April; its migration is consequently from the North, and
the specimens now received indicate the countries in which it breeds and passes the
summer. The specimen to be described is supposed to be that of a male ; it measures
seventeen inches, including the length of the legs; the bill is short, and the
upper mandible hooked, not straight, as is usual in the genus ; round the centre of
both mandibles is a broad band of black; under the chin is a conspicuous and strongly
contrasted patch of black, which is said to be wanting in the females; the upper
parts are dark brown ; the rest of the throat and cheeks is light brown; on the breast
a patch of the feathers is minutely dotted or sprinkled with black and white; the
belly is also mottled light brown and white; the secondaries of the wings are tipped
with white.
Podiceps Comutus. Horned Grebe.
There are two species of Grebe, having their heads full of dark feathers, with tufts
of a bright colour over their eyes, which, though different, have caused some difficulty
to naturalists in distinguishing them from each other. These are the P. Cornutus
and the P. Auritus, or Eared Grebe ; both are found in Europe, but the former only
is native of North America ; it breeds in the countries round Hudson’s Bay, and retires
southward for the winter. It has beeh stated that on account of the expertness
with which this bird dives, that it is peculiarly called by the Americans, the Water
Witch; but that appellation is probably given to the Grebes indiscriminately, the
power of rapidly retiring under water being equally possessed by them all. The-
Horned Grebe has been figured in the Planches Enlumindes, as La Grebe d’EscIavonie,.
whence it is sometimes called by writers the Sclavonian Grebe, and it is generally
known by that name among British Ornithologists. In its state of adolescence it
has been called the Dusky Grebe, Podiceps Obscurus ; it is then without any of the-
brilliant plumage of the mature bird, which also is frequently found in a less perfect
state than in the specimen now under notice. Length, including the extent of the feet,,
seventeen inches ; the bill is one inch long, dark, with the tip white; both mandibles
are bent towards each other so as to meet in a point, which circumstance will be found
an unerring mark of distinction between this species and the Eared Grebe; the upper
mandible in that bird is straight, whilst the lower mandible is bent upwards to meet
its point, giving the whole bill an appearance of being curved upwards ; the head is
covered with a thick coat of glossy black feathers, except, that from the upper man
dible a patch of feathers of a chestnut-red proceeds towards and above the eye : these
are short, but the continuation of this marking beyond the eye, consists of elongated
feathers, forming a tuft on each side of the head, proceeding about an inch and a
half in length in the direction of the neck; these tufts near the eye are pale ochreous,