The adult in spring has the head and neck black with a triangular patch of yellowish chestnut feathers on the ear coverts; upper parts dark brown; under parts white; flanks chestnut. All the secondaries _white_, and _a good deal of white on the four innermost primaries_. Bill black, _up-curved in front of the angle_. In winter the ear tufts and black on the throat are lost, and at this season it closely resembles the preceding species, but the _white_ on the primaries will always serve to distinguish it. Length 12 in.; wing 5 in. THE LITTLE GREBE OR DABCHICK Podicipes fluviatilis (Tunstall) The Little Grebe is abundant on rivers, streams, and ponds throughout the country, but becomes scarcer in the north of Scotland. It must be tolerably familiar to every one as a short squat little bird that dives at the smallest alarm, only coming to the surface again some distance away, most often among the reeds and aquatic vegetation near which this bird is always found. The nest is a fair-sized mass of dead weeds floating on the surface of the water and generally moored to some reed stems. The eggs, usually five in number, are of a uniform yellowish white, but soon become discoloured by the weeds with which they are always covered when the bird is not sitting. The nestling is striped, and fed by its parents on insects and small fish. These birds are seldom seen on the wing and hardly ever on land, but nevertheless they are well able to stand up and even walk when on shore. In summer the plumage, except for the cheeks, throat, and sides of the neck, which are chestnut, is dark brown all over, rather lighter on the under parts. In winter the chin, neck, and under parts are nearly white. The plumage of the young resembles the winter dress of their parents but is a little duller, and there is more white about the cheeks. Length 9·5 in.; wing 4 in. THE STORM PETREL Procellaria pelagica, Linnæus This is the commonest of the Petrels which come to our shores to breed, for as a rule these birds live far out at sea and only visit the shore to breed or when driven inland by stress of weather or on migration. About their migrations little or nothing is known, but in October and November this species regularly strikes many of our lighthouses and lightships, being attracted by the light. It is found along the whole of the countries fringing the Atlantic, and nests from the Faroes southwards, and also along the shores of the western end of the Mediterranean.