794 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS — PYGOPODES. 



claw, all about 3.00; gape of bill 3.G0 ; bcight at base 0.50. Western U. S., common. 

 As here described, the bird is given in its purest character; but it grades in size directly into 

 the next, and some of the larger individuals have a mostly yellow and somewhat recurved bill, 

 with white lores. 



846. .<E. o. clark'i. (To J. H. Clark.) Clark's Grebe. Bill about as hmg as liead, shorter than 

 tarsus, slightly recurved, extremely slender and acute ; culmen a little coucave ; under outline 

 almost one unbroken curve from base to tip. Adult in breeding plumage : Under mandible, 

 and tip and cuttiug edges of the upper, chrome-yellow, in marked contrast to black of culmen. 

 Loral bare strip leaden-blue. Crown, occiput, and hiud-neck deep grayish-black; almost 

 pure black on the hind-head, fading gradually along the neck into the lighter blackish-gray 

 of the upper parts generally. Lores broadly pure white, as are the entire under parts, with 

 a shai-p line of demarcation along the sides of the head and neck. A decided occipital crest, 

 the feathers about an inch long and quite filiform, but not colored apart from the general 

 coloration. No decided ruffs — no colored ruflfs at all ; but the white feathers of the sides 

 of the head behind and across the throat are longer and fuller than elsewhere — about as in 

 griseigena. Wings and general coloration (except the white lores) exactly as in occidenialis. 

 Winter dress not materially different. Dimensions: length about 22.00 inches; extent 28.. 50 ; 

 wing 7.00; bill along culmen 2.30; along gape 2.75; height at nostrils 0.40; tarsus and 

 middle toe with claw, each about 2.75. Thence grading up to occidenialis. With only 

 extremes before us of the two varieties, one might well consider them distinct species; but 

 other specimens show the intergradation ; we frequently find specimens as small as typical 

 clarki, and with equally slender bill, yet with the color of the bill wholly olivaceous and the 

 lores ashy, as in typical occidenialis. Western' U. S. 



J35. PODI'CIPES. (Lat.pocZex, gen. po(Zim, the rump ^ jpes, foot.) Grebes. Bill moderately 

 stout, usually more or less compressed, equalling or shorter than the head or tarsus. Tarsus 

 obviously shorter than the middle toe and claw. Outer lateral toe a little longer than the 

 middle. Head in the breeding season with lengthened colored crests or ruffs, or both. 



Note. —Believing P. cristatus may have been hastily eliminated from our fauna, I analyze and describe it 

 with the rest, without number assigned. 



Analysis of Species (adults). 



Large : length over 15 inches. Bill more or less nearly equalling the hBa,d or tarsus in length. 



Crests, and especially ruflfs, long and conspicuous. Neck without red or gray in front ; under parts 



pure silky-white. Tarsus averaging equal to the middle toe without its claw cristatus 



Crests moderate ; ruflfs inconspicuous. Neck with red or gray in front ; under parts watered with 



dusky (sometimes but slightly). Tarsus averaging less than the middle toe and claw . . holbailli 847 

 Small : length under 15 inches. Bill much shorter than head ; little over half the tarsus. 



Bill compressed, higher than broad at the nostrils. Crests and ruflfs very conspicuous ; neck red in 



front comutiis 848 



Bill depressed, broader than high at the nostrils. Crests in form of auricular tufts ; neck black in 



front aurltus 849, or californicus 850 



P. crista''tus. (Lat. cristatris, crested.) Crested Grebe. Adult, breeding plumage : Crown and long 

 occipital crests glossy black; end of ruflf the same, the rest reddish-brown, fading into silky-white of throat and 

 sides of head. Neck behind and upper parts dark brown, the feathers with gray margins. Primaries chocolate- 

 brown, with black shafts, the tips of the inner ones white, as are all the secondaries and tertiaries, excepting a 

 little of the outer webs of the former; greater wing-coverts white on inner webs. Under parts pure silky white, 

 without a trace of dusky mottling, the sides of the neck and body tinged with reddish, and on the flanks mixed 

 with dusky, where the feathers have dark shaft-lines. Length about 24.00; extent 33.00; wing 7.00; bill 2.00, 

 the gape 2.70 ; tarsus 2.50. Europe, etc. N. Am. ? 



847. P. griseige'na holboelli. (Low Lat. ^rmew-s, gray ; ^rewa, cheeks. To C- HolboU.) American 

 Red-necked Grebe. Adult, breeding plumage: Crests short, and ruffs scarcely apparent. 

 Iris carmine. Bill black, the tomia of upper mandible at base and most of lower mandible 

 yellowish. Crown and occiput glossy greenish-black ; back of neck the same, less intense, 

 and upper parts generally the same, with grayish edgings of the feathers. Wing-coverts and 



