3-028-298 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Shooting grebe on the Lake of Geneva, 1870. 'The Lake of Geneva is the resort of great numbers of that species of diving bird called the Tippet Grebe, or Crested Ducker, Podiceps Cristatus, whose skin, with its beautiful silky plumage, is in much request for the material of muffs and trimming of warm pelisses...The crests and ruffs are grown in spring, but disappear in the autumn of each year. We are furnished by a correspondent at Geneva with the sketch we have engraved, showing the manner in which these birds are pursued and killed. He writes:..."The value of a good grebe for making ladies' muffs is from 8f. to 10f., and many boatmen earn enough in the winter to keep their wives and children during the rest of the year...Do not forget a good spy-glass; it enables you to see the coveys at a distance, when ordinary eyes cannot discern them. On perceiving a covey, the first order of the day is "Silence"...always fire at the head. Firing at the body of a grebe has no more effect than a shot from a child's pop-gun would have on the skin of an elephant".' From "Illustrated London News", 1870.