Page:EB1911 - Volume 12.djvu/440

Rh Denarius (1649); and Elementa linguae Persicae (1649). His miscellaneous works were published in 1737 by Dr Thomas Birch, with a biographical notice of the author. See also Smith’s ''Vita quorundam erudit. virorum and Ward’s Gresham Professors''.

 GREBE (Fr. grèbe), the generally accepted name for all the birds of the family Podicipedidae, belonging to the group Pygopodes of Illiger, members of which inhabit almost all parts of the world. Some systematic writers have distributed them into several so-called genera, but, with one exception, these seem to be insufficiently defined, and here it will be enough to allow but two—Latham’s Podiceps and the Centropelma of Sclater and Salvin. Grebes are at once distinguishable from all other water-birds by their rudimentary tail and the peculiar structure of their feet, which are not only placed far behind, but have the tarsi flattened and elongated toes furnished with broad lobes of skin and flat blunt nails.

In Europe are five well-marked species of Podiceps, the commonest and smallest of which is the very well-known dabchick of English ponds, P. fluviatilis or minor, the little grebe of ornithologists, found throughout the British Islands, and with a wide range in the old world. Next in size are two species known as the eared and horned grebes, the former of which, P. nigricollis, is a visitor from the south, only occasionally showing itself in Britain and very rarely breeding, while the latter, P. auritus, has a more northern range, breeding plentifully in Iceland, and is a not uncommon winter-visitant. Then there is the larger red-necked grebe, P. griseigena, also a northern bird, and a native of the subarctic parts of both Europe and America, while lastly the great crested grebe, P. cristatus or gaunt—known as the loon on the meres and broads of East Anglia and some other parts of England, is also widely spread over the old world. North America is credited with seven species of grebes, of which two (P. griseigena and P. auritus) are admitted to be specifically inseparable from those already named, and two (P. occidentalis and P. californicus) appear to be but local forms; the remaining two (P. dominicus and P. ludovicianus) may, however, be accounted good species, and the last differs so much from other grebes that many systematists make it the type of a distinct genus, Podilymbus. South America seems to possess four or five more species, one of which, the P. micropterus of Gould (Proc. Zool. Society, 1858, p. 220), has been deservedly separated from the genus Podiceps under the name Centropelma by Sclater and Salvin (Exot. Ornithology, p. 189, pl. xcv.), owing to the form of its bill, and the small size of its wings, which renders it absolutely flightless. Lake Titicaca in Bolivia is, so far as is known at present, its only habitat. Grebes in general, though averse from taking wing, have much greater power of flight than would seem possible on examination of their alar organs, and are capable of prolonged aerial journeys. Their plumage is short and close. Above it is commonly of some shade of brown, but beneath it is usually white, and so glossy as to be in much request for muffs and the trimming of ladies’ dresses. Some species are remarkable for the crests or tippets, generally of a golden-chestnut colour, they assume in the breeding season. P. auritus is particularly remarkable in this respect, and when in its full nuptial attire presents an extraordinary aspect, the head (being surrounded, as it were, by a nimbus or aureole, such as that with which painters adorn saintly characters), reflecting the rays of light, glitters with a glory that passes description. All the species seem to have similar habits of nidification. Water-weeds are pulled from the bottom of the pool, and piled on a convenient foundation, often a seminatant growth of bogbean (Menyanthes), till they form a large mass, in the centre of which a shallow cup is formed, and the eggs, with a chalky white shell almost equally pointed at each end, are laid—the parent covering them, whenever she has time to do so, before leaving the nest. Young grebes are beautiful objects, clothed with black, white and brown down, disposed in streaks and their bill often brilliantly tinted. When taken from the nest and placed on dry ground, it is curious to observe the way in which they progress—using the wings almost as fore-feet, and suggesting the notion that they must be quadrupeds instead of birds.

GRECO, EL, the name commonly given to Dominico Theotocopuli (d. 1614), Cretan painter, architect and sculptor. He was born in Crete, between 1545 and 1550, and announces his Cretan origin by his signature in Greek letters on his most important pictures, especially on the “St Maurice” in the Escorial. He appears to have studied art first of all in Venice, and on arriving in Rome in 1570 is described as having been a pupil of Titian, in a letter written by the miniaturist, Giulio Clovio, addressed to Cardinal Alessandro Farnesi, dated the 15th of November 1570.

Although a student under Titian, he was at no time an exponent of his master’s spirit, and his early historical pictures were attributed to many other artists, but never to Titian. Of his early works, two pictures of “The Healing of the Blind Man” at Dresden and Palma, and the four of “Christ driving the money-changers out of the Temple” in the Yarborough collection, the Cork collection, the National Gallery, and the Beruete collection at Madrid, are the chief. His first authentic portrait is that of his fellow-countryman, Giulio Clovio. It was painted between 1570 and 1578, is signed in Greek characters, and preserved at Naples, and the last portrait he painted under the influence of the Italian school appears to be that of a cardinal now in the National Gallery, of which four replicas painted in Spain are known. He appears to have come to Spain in 1577, but, on being questioned two years later in connexion with a judicial suit, as to when he arrived in the country, and for what purpose he came, declined to give any information. He was probably attracted by the prospect of participating in the decoration of the Escorial, and he appears to have settled down in Toledo, where his first works were the paintings for the high altar of Santo Domingo, and his famous picture of “The Disrobing of Christ” in the sacristy of the cathedral. It was in connexion with this last-named work that he proved refractory, and the records of a law-suit respecting the price to be paid to him give us the earliest information of the artist’s sojourn in Spain. In 1590, he painted the “History of St Maurice” for Philip II., and in 1578, his masterpiece, entitled “The Burial of the Count Orgaz.” This magnificent picture, one of the finest in Spain, is at last being appreciated, and can only be put a little below the masterpieces of Velazquez. It is a strangely