THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 71 



like a hood, glossy, greenish black, a stripe on each side 

 of the head passing through the eye, reddish buff; under 

 parts silky white; neck, breast and sides of body, reddish 

 chestnut; young birds are plain, dull black above and 

 silky white below. It is somewhat more numerous in 

 New Jersey than the preceding, especially during migra- 

 tions, occurring from November until May. 



Grcbe^ Pieil-hilUtl^ Dabrhick^ Diefinpper^ Hell- 

 IPiver or Jf Vtter ll*#7r/j.— This is the most common 

 of the Grebes; remaining in New Jersey for fully nine 

 months in the year; from its appearance at a distance 

 and its habits it is frequently mistaken for a duck and in 

 fact in a few places it is referred to as the Hen-bill Duck. 

 It is a little over thirteen inches in length. It obtains 

 one of its names from the fact that the bill, about nine- 

 tenths of an inch in length, is shaped like that of a 

 chicken; it is dull white in color, crossed with a black 

 band. Its throat is black: back, glossy black; under 

 parts, silky white, mottled with brown and black; fore 

 breast, rusty brown and black; wings, brown, slightly 

 tipped with white. Tail represented by a few soft, 

 downy feathers, scarcely perceptible. 



The nest is built hke that of Holboell's Grebe; the float- 

 ing mass is held together l)y mud and moss and the eggs 

 are frequently concealed by a thin layer of similar nmck. 

 The eggs are from four to eight in number, of a dirty 

 white, one and three-fourths by one and one-fifth inches 

 in size. 



It breeds throughout the whole of North America, with 

 the exception of the extreme north and south, going as 

 far south as South America during the winter. Some re- 

 main in New Jersey throughout the whole year, but it is 

 not a common breeder. 



Its food consists of frogs, insects, lizards and tlie seeds 

 of grasses. 



Grosheftk^ ianlhuil. See Cardinal Bird. 



