BIRDS OF AMERICA 



and swims along under water to the cover of 

 overhanging vegetation on tlie bank, when it 

 creeps ashore unseen and liides amid the verdant 

 cover. 



Photo by H. K. Job Courtesy ot Outing Pub. Co. 



HORNED GREBE {Spring Plumage) 



This drebe is one of the quickest of divers, 

 often escaping a charge of shot by its activity in 

 going under. \Mien alarmed it lies very low in 

 the water, and, if it can get its head and neck 

 beneath the surface before the shot reaches the 

 spot, its vital parts are likely to escape unharmed. 

 It frequents small ponds and little streams with 

 grassy banks, but where much persecuted by 

 gunners seeks the larger lakes or the sea for 

 greater safety. Ordinarily in swimming under 

 water it does not appear to use its wings, but 

 probably all diving birds utilize their wing power 

 when in pursuit of elusive prey. Mr. C. \\'. 

 \''ibert of South Windsor, Connecticut, kept a 

 bird of this species that was seen to raise its 

 wings slightly when swimming beneath the sur- 

 face. 



When storms prevail at sea in fall and winter 

 flocks of Grebes often are driven into the ponds 

 of the interior. At such times they may be seen 

 asleep on the water in the daytime with the head 

 dra\'\'n down on the back and the bill thrust into 

 the feathers of the shoulder or breast, keeping 

 their place head to the wind by a sort of auto- 

 matic paddling. .Sometimes a sleepy bird uses 

 only one foot and so swings about in a circle. 

 Edward Howe Forbush. 



EARED GREBE 



Colymbus nigricollis californicus (Hccrmann) 



!\. O. U. Number 4 



Other Names. — .•\incricaii Eared Grebe ; Eared Diver. 



General Description. — Length. 12 to 14 inches. 

 Color above, dusky ; below, white. In summer adults 

 have long, faii-slnif'cd car-tufts of fine feathers. 



Color. — Adults in Summer: Ear-tufts, golden- 

 broivn ; crown, chin, throat, and neck all around, blade; 

 upper parts, dusky ; primaries, dusky ; secondaries, white, 

 dusky at base; sides, deep purplish-brown with a wash 

 of the same color across breast and on under tail- 

 coverts ; under parts, silky white ; abdomen, tinged with 

 gray ; bill, black ; feet, olive, dusky outside and on soles ; 

 iris, red; eyelids, orange. Adults in Winter: No ear 

 tufts; crown and narrow band on back of neck and 



upper parts, grayish-dusky; chin, throat, and sides of 

 head, wliite ; under parts, silvery-white: sides and flanks, 

 tinged with gray. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : A floating platform of reeds 

 and vegetation, on shallow lagoons, ponds, or lakes. 

 Eggs : 4 to 6, soiled white. 



Distribution. — Western North .America; breeds 

 from Central British Columbia, Great Slave Lake, Sas- 

 katchewan, and Manitoba south to southern California, 

 northern Arizona, northern Nebraska, and northern 

 Iowa; winters from central California southward to 

 Cape -San Lucas and Guatemala ; east to Kansas in 

 migration; casual in Missouri, Indiana, and Ontario. 



Out on the main part of Malheur Lake in 

 southeastern Oregon, we came ujjon a colony of 

 Eared Grebes. These birds were nesting well 

 out in the open water. I counted one hundred 

 and sixty-five nests scattered over an area of 

 two or three acres. Some homes were but a few 

 feet a])art. The nest itself was a very interest- 



ing structure. It was built entirely of water 

 weeds, commonly called milfoil, which grew in 

 the shallow water. The nest consisted of the 

 long slender runners pulled together from a dis- 

 tance of several feet around. It looked to me 

 as if these weeds when piled together, would 

 sink. On the contrary, I found the nest quite 



