File:The aquatic birds of Great Britain and Ireland (1906) (14775453833).jpg

Identifier: aquaticbirdsofgr00patt (find matches)
Title: The aquatic birds of Great Britain and Ireland
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Patten, Charles Joseph, 1870-
Subjects: Water birds Water birds
Publisher: London, R. H. Porter
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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l as its limits permitted, and captured, withoutany exertion, the minnow which had been placed for its food, at lastbecoming so familiar as to look upward when the fish was suspendedby the tail, and diving after it when it entered the water; when liftedout it paddled along the floor in the most amusing manner, after everyfew feet traversed squatting down to rest; no way timid when placed onthe breakfast table, it never attempted to mo^e until taken away toenjoy its morning bath ( Birds of Ireland, p. 222). - Once by mistake I shot a hatching Little Grebe. 1 took her to besimply resting on the water, so flat and sunken was her nest. Thelatter was di-ipping wet and contained three eggs. These were staineda deep brown, though only laid about four days. One egg was blownto pieces, another received two shot punctures, through which Iexpelled the contents, while the third escaped uninjured. •* I have taken the eggs on July 8th, 1889, on Lough Neagh, and thisbird is known to lay in August.
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I—IH 12; n HC/2 pq O1-1 532 PODICIPEDID.E This bird breeds freely throuobout the British Isles onsheltered lakes and ponds, both larcre and small, also alongthe margins of deep sluggish streams, overgrown with reedsand bulrushes. The nest may be situated far inland or nearthe coast, in the latter situation I have known the bird tobreed about brackish ponds connected by a channel withthe sea. This Grebe is somewhat less numerous in the northerncounties of Scotland, though it is noteworthy that it breedsat an elevation of 2,000 feet in some districts in the High-lands. It is also resident on some of the larger islands ofthe western sea-board of Scotland. In Ireland it is a common breeding-species, and is abun-dant in summer along the Shannon and the great lakespassing through it. Geographical dlstrihutio)i. — Abroad, the Little Grebebreeds in many countries in Central and Southern Europe,and in North Africa. Eastward it is generally distributedover Temperate Asia, breeding as far as

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