A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE telegraph wires, was obtained at Reed near Royston ; and in the next year one was picked upatMunden. In the winter of 1890 91 an example was procured at or near Totteridge, and one was shot at Roxford Farm, Bayford- bury, at the end of 1 893 ; while on November 1 5th, 1894, a bird of this species was picked up alive near St. Albans. 205. Great Northern Diver. Colymbus g/acia/is, Linn. In December, 1841, an immature great northern diver was obtained at the Tring reservoirs, where also one was shot on January ist, 1887 ; others being seen there on February I5th following, and on January 1 2th, 1897. At Elstree, a specimen was ob- tained on December a6th, 1876, and another, an immature bird, in 1884. 206. Great Crested Grebe. Podicipes cristatus (Linn.). Few places in the British Isles have this magnificent bird resident in such numbers as are to be found at the Tring reservoirs. It arrives there early in March, leaving again usually in November ; and, thanks to the pro- tection afforded to it there, thirty or forty pairs, and often more, may be seen during the nesting season. I am not aware of any other place in the county where it breeds. 207. Red-necked Grebe. Podicipes griseigena (Boddaert). The Rev. H. H. Crewe stated in The Birds of Berks and Bucks by Clarke-Kennedy, that he had identified this bird at Tring on two occasions, but unfortunately he gave no further particulars. 208. Slavonian Grebe. Podicipes auritus (Linn.). In 1884 a Slavonian grebe was killed at Radwell, near Hitchin, in the month of January. In 1881 one was caught by some boys in Gadebridge Park, Hemel Hempstead. Two also were shot at Tring in October, 1884, where I believe the bird had in 1878 been identified by Mr. T. Harris of Leighton Buzzard. 209. Little Grebe or Dabchick. Podicipes fluviatilh (Tunstall). This bird is a common species throughout Hertfordshire, wherever suitable localities are to be found, and nests in some numbers on many of the little rivers in the county. Although the nest is usually a floating struc- ture, I on one occasion, at Water End, Great Gaddesden, found one built on the bank of the Gade. 210. Storm-Petrel. Procellaria pelagica, Linn. This species has been obtained in most inland counties, and Hertfordshire is no excep- tion in this respect, since in 1881 a male and female were picked up dead in a field near East Lodge, Hemel Hempstead, on December 1 5th, while one was captured alive on Decem- ber nth, 1886, on the Midland Railway line near St. Albans. 216
