264 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Genus PODILYMBTJS Lesson. 



Podllymbus Lesson, Traite, i, 1831, 596. Type, Podiceps earolinensis Lath., = Colymbus 



podiceps Linn. 

 Sylbeocyclus Bonap. Saggio, 1832, 144 (same type; cf. Scl. Ibis, 1874, p. 98). 



Gen. Char. Size medium (wing about 4.50-5.00 inches'; bill much shorter than the 

 head, very stout, the length of the culmen less than twice the basal depth; the culmen 

 much curved terminally; tarsus shorter than the middle toe without claw. No tufts in 

 summer plumage, but bill parti-colored, and throat ornamented by a black patch. 



Only one species of this genus is known, although the South 

 American bird is considered by some authors distinct from that 

 of North America, under the name P. antarcticus (Less.). 



Podilymbus podiceps (Linn.) 



PEED-BILLED GREBE. 



Popular synonyms. Thick-billed Grebe; Carolina Grebe; Water Witch; Di-dipper; Hell- 

 diver; Zambullidor de pico grueso (Mexico). 

 Colymbus podiceps Linn. S. N. ed. 10, i, 1758, 136; ed. 12, i, 1766, 223 (based on Podiceps 

 minor rostro vario, Catesbt, Carol 91.— Colymbus fluviatilis earolinensis, Beiss. 

 Orn. vi, 1760, 63). 

 Podilymbus podiceps Lawr. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 898— Baird. Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, 

 No. 709— Coues. Key, 1872. 338 ; Check List, 1873, No. 614; 2d ed. 1882, No. 852; Birds N. 

 W. 1874, 737— Hensh. Zool. Wheeler's Exp. 1875, 490— Ridgw. Orn. 40th Par. 1877, 643; 

 Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 735; Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 6.— B. B. & R. Water B. N. Am. ii, 

 1884, 440— A. O. U. Check List. 1886, No. 6. 

 Podilymbus podicipes Coues 2d Check List, 1882, No. 852. 

 Podiceps ludovicianus Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. 1790, 785. 

 Podiceps earolinensis Lath. 1. c-Sw. & Rich. F.-B. A. ii, 1831, 412.— Nutt. Man. ii. 1834,259. 



—Aim. Orn. Biog. iii, 1835, 359; Synop. 1839, 358; B. Am. vii. 1844, 324, pi, 483. 

 Podilymbus lineatus Heerm. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1854,179; Pacific R. R. Rep. x, 



1859, 77, pi. 9, (young). 

 Podiceps antarcticus Less. Rev. Zool. 1842, 209. 



Podilymbus antarcticus Gray, Hand-list.iii, 1871,95, No. 10,771. 

 Podilymbus podiceps, b. antarcticus Coues, Birds N. W. 1874,737. 

 Podiceps brevirostris Gray, Gen. B. iii, 1839, pi. 172, 



Hab. Whole of temperate North America, Middle America, West Indies, and greater 

 part of South America, breeding nearly throughout its range. South to Brazil, Buenos 

 Ayres, and Chili, north to British Provinces.' Bermudas. 



Sp. Char. A dult, breeding plumage: Chin, throat, and a spot at the base of the man- 

 dible, black; rest of the head and neck brownish gray, darker on the pileum and nape, 

 lighter on the sides of the head, the malar region light ashy, streaked with dusky. Upper 

 parts uniform dusky grayish brown, the remiges paler, the inner webs of the secondaries 

 tipped with white ; lower parts grayish white, everywhere spotted with dusky grayish. Bill 

 milk-white, crossed past the middle by a black band, the terminal portion more bluish; eye- 

 lids white ; naked lores bluish; iris rich dark brown, with a narrow outer ring of ochraceous- 

 white, and an inner thread-like ring of pure white; tarsi and toes greenish slate-black on 

 the outer, plumbeous on the inner side. 1 Winter plumage: Head and neck dull brownish, 

 darker on the pileum and nape, and becoming white on the chin and throat (sometimes also 



i Fresh colors of an adult female killed March 24 at Carson City, Nevada. 



