28 BULLETIN 186, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



which has been used, no provision is made for proper nomenclatorial 

 representation of this concept, I have everywhere used as specific 

 name that of the earliest described section of the group; thus, con- 

 sidering Sitta europaea and Sitta castanea joint members of a super- 

 species, I have placed all races of the latter under the name europaea. 



Order PODICIPITIFORMES 

 Family PODICIPITIDAE 



PODICEPS RUFICOLLIS POGGEI (Reichenow) 



Chinese Little Grebe 



Colymbus nigricans poggei Reichenow, Journ. fiir Orn., vol. 50, 1902, p. 125 



(Chihli Province, China). 

 Podiceps ruficollis capensis, de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 



1929, p. 58S (Chiang Mai). — Deignan, Journ. Shun Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 



1931, p. 174 (Chiang Mai). 

 Poliocephalus ruficollis capensis, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 



1936, p. 72 (Chiang Mai). 



This species is a locally common resident in the northern provinces 

 but may be absent from some districts during the months of drought. 



The grebe is a shy and wary little bird, haunting small lakes and 

 large ponds where open water is bounded by dense stands of rushes 

 and sedges and where aquatic plants grow so thickly beneath the 

 surface that passage is impossible for man or boat. At such places 

 it may often be found in numbers, swimming about in pairs or small 

 parties. At the least alarm it moves rapidly toward the nearest reeds, 

 sinks out of sight, or scuds away over the water before diving head- 

 long. A shot is sufficient to cause every grebe within hearing to van- 

 ish, after which heads cautiously reappear at quite different places 

 or the birds come up behind the vegetation and are not seen again. 

 Owing to its short wings and weak feet, the grebe can arise from 

 water only after running across the surface, and on land it is helpless. 

 A female collected by me at Chiang Mai in December 1931 had 

 alighted upon a pool so small that it was unable to escape and was 

 easily captured by hand. 



Of the breeding season in our area nothing definite is known, but 

 in the neighborhood of Chiang Mai birds in nuptial plumage may 

 be seen from August to March, and during these months the love song 

 of the species is heard frequently from the reed beds. 



A female in breeding dress had the irides yellow ; the maxilla black, 

 with a small light-brown mark at the middle on each side, the extreme 



