GREBES 



buoyant. Long red stems, kept alive by the 

 water, often extended to the bottom. In a few 

 cases, I found the birds had collected piece :. of 

 dry tule stems as a sort of lining to their plat- 

 form nests. From a distance, the nest colony 

 presented a line of Ijiood-rcd against a back- 

 ground of green tales. 



When we approached the Eared Grebe colony. 



paid no attention to this. I watched one bird as 

 she pulled up the stems out of the water and 

 from the lining of the nest covering her eggs 

 comjiletely, so when we came near, there was not 

 an egg in sight. I do not know whether this 

 habit develops more from the idea of protecting 

 the eggs from enemies, or from the idea of keep- 

 ing them warm when the mother is away. The 



Photu by W. L. Finlcy and H. T. Bohlman 





EARED GREBE (Spring Plumage) 

 Though a water-bird, it is never wet 



everything was bustle and hurry. The birds were 

 trying to cover their eggs before leaving. It 

 seemed to be a habit in this colony to cover the 

 eggs, while the Western Grebe on the same lake 



eggs often lie partly in the water. The sun, I 

 think, helps a good deal in hatching the eggs 

 during the day, the bird keeping a more careful 

 vigil at night. William L. Finley. 



PIED-BILLED GREBE 



Podilymbus podiceps ( Liiuuciis) 



A. O. U. Xuniber (> See Color Plate i 



Other Names. — Hell-diver ; Devil-diver ; Water- 

 witch ; Dabchick ; American Dahchick : Pied-hilled Dab- 

 chick; Dipper; Diedapper ; Didapper ; Divedapper ; 

 Carolina Grebe; Thick-billed Grebe. 



General Description. — Length, 13 inches. Color 

 aliove, brownish-hlack ; below, lighter brown and white. 

 Bill, short and thick; no crests. 



Color. — Adults: Crown, back of head, and neck, 

 grayish-black streaked with lighter; upper parts, brown- 

 ish-black; sides of head and neck, brownish-gray; chin 

 and throat, black; primaries and sccouiiarics, dutcolatc- 

 I'l-D'cn: hi'hni'. pale hroii.'ni.tli-ash, thickly mottled with 

 dusky on sides ; lower abdomen, mostly dusky ; bill, 

 jvhitish, dusky on ridge and tip xvilh a black encircling 



