432 



THE DIVING BIRDS — PYGOPODES. 



Dytes auritus. 



THE HORNED GREBE. 



Colymbus auritus, Linn. S. N. ed. 10, I. 1758, 135 ; ed. 12, I. 1766, 222. 



Dijtcs auritus, Rinow. Nora. N. Am. I!. ISSl, no. 732. 



Colymhus cornntus, Gmkl. S. N. I. ii. 178S, 591. 



Podkeps cornutus, Lath. hid. Orii. IL 1790, 783. — S\v. & Rich. F. B. A. IL 1831, 411. — Nutt. 



Man. IL 1834, 254. —Aud. Oin. Biog. III. 1835, 429, \A. 259; Synop. 1839, 357; B. Am. 



A' IL 1844, 316, \A. 481. — Lawr. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 895. — Baiiid, Cat. N. Am. B. 



1859, no. 706. — CouES, Key, 1872, 337; Check List, 1873, no. 611; ed. 2, 1882, no. 848; 



Birds N. W. 1874, 731. 

 Colymhus obscurus, Gmeu S. N. I. ii. 1788, 592. 



Colymbus caspicus, S. G. Gmel. lieisc, IV. 1774-1784, 137. — Gmel. S. N. L ii. 1788, 593. 

 PocUccj)s bicornis, Bi;ehm, Vijg. Deutschl. 1831, 96, pi. 44, fig. 4. 



Hau. Northern hemisphere in general. Breeds in the Northern United States and northward. 



Sp. Char. Adult, hrcedincj-plumage : Head generalhs including the llufty tnfts on each side of 



the upper neck, slightly glossy dull greenisli black, becoming gradually dull sooty slate on the 



forehead ; lores dull ochraceous-rufous, communicating with 

 a broad superciliary stripe of bright ochraceous, which con- 

 tinues, gradually \/idening, to the sides of the occiput ; fore- 

 neck rich rufous. Upper parts dusky, the feathers sometimes 

 with indistinctly paler margins ; secondaries chiefly or entirely 

 wliite. Lower parts white, the sides mixed chestnut-rufous 

 aud grayish dusky. " Bill bluish black, its tip yellow ; short 

 loral space bright carmine, as is tlie iris, its inner margin 

 white ; edges of eyelids grayish blue ; leet dusky exteriudly, 

 internally, and on anterior and posterior ridges of the tarsus 

 dull yellow ; claws dusky" (Audubon). Winter lolumarje : 

 Pileum, nape, and sides of the jngulum smoky slate ; under 

 part and sides of the head, lores, and lower jjarts generally, 

 white ; jugulum faintly shaded with pale grayish, and .sides 

 clouded with dark grayish. Upper parts as in the summer 

 plumage, but more slaty. "Bill bluish gray, as is the bare loral space; the eye bright carmine, 

 with an inner white edge; the feet bluish gray" (Audubon). Doivny young (hnlf-groivn): 

 Pileum and nape dusky; sides of the head with two dusky stripes and several irregular spots of 

 the same color ; throat with a du.sky streak on each side. Otherwise similar in color to the winter 

 ])lumage. 



Total length, about 14.75 inches ; extent, 2.5.50 ; wing, 5.75 ; culmen, 1.00 ; tarsus, 1.75. 



This species, variously known among authors as the ''Horned Grebe," the "Dusky- 

 Grebe," and the " Schavonian Grebe," is common to the northern portions of both 

 continents, and is found on the Pacilic coast as far north at least as Vancouver, and 

 to Greenland on the eastern. It is equally common in the northern iK)rtions of 

 Europe and Asia in the summer, wandering in the winter farther south. It is rather 

 a rare bird in Great l>ritain during the snmmer, but is of more frequent a})pearance 

 in the winter, frequenting the coast and the marshy districts ; and is not uncommon 

 in Ireland during the same season. It has been said to be resident in Scotland all 

 the year, but there is no recent evidence of the fact. ]\Ir. Dunn found it extremely 

 rare in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, only noticing seven or eight. He describes 

 it as being a very shy bird and a most expert diver — frequentiiig the sea, but 

 always remaining close to the rocks. "When alarmed it dives to a great distance, and 

 on coming to the surface immediately takes wing. 



