THE AMERICAN EARED GREBE. 887 



as high as a hundred and fifty of them feeding upon the shallows in the sjjace 

 of five acres, as the tide was coming in. It is at such times they raise a 

 curious far-sounding note of com])laint, kcoyli kcogh with a nasal twang — or 

 more sharply, kcark kcark, or even yark yark. 



No. 358. 



AMERICAN EARED GREBE. 



A. O. U. Xo. 4. Colymbus nigricollis californicus iHeerm.). 



Description. — Adult hi brccdiiuj plumaiic: A broad fan-shaped patch of 

 lengthened feathers on side nf head, chiefly behind eye, rich straw-yellow to 

 golden-brown; remainder of head and neck (including a prominent crest) and 

 chest, jet black; upperjiarts fdackish, sometimes washed on upper back with 

 rufous; [jrimaries chocolate-l)r()wn. washed with duller brownish; secondaries 

 chiefly white; sides broadly rich rufous or wine-red — this color washed across 

 breast below black and across crissum and so surrounding silky grayish white of 

 lower breast and belly. Bill black; feet dull (jlive, blackening on soles; eyes flam- 

 ing scarlet, their lids orange. .Idiilt in winter: L'pperparts and sides grayish 

 dusky, blackening on top of head and neck (narrowly) ; no rufous; no unusual 

 feathers or crests on head ; throat and cheeks white ; thus an obscurely colored 

 dusk)' and white bird, difficult to distinguish superficially from the Horned 

 Grebe, C. aiiritits. in winter. Length; 12.00-14.00 (304.8-355.6); wing about 

 5.00 (127); bill i.oo (25.4), de]5th at nostril .22 (5.6), width .26 (6.6); tarsus 

 1.60 (40.6). 



Recognition Marks. — Teal size ; single black crest and fan-sha]jed yellow 

 auricular patches distinctive in breeding plumage. In winter plumage very diffi- 

 cult to distinguish from the Horned Grebe ; — however, note size, averaging 

 smaller; somewhat darker colored upperparts : more distinct wash of dusky on 

 chest ; less trace of special feathering on bead ; bill of different projjortions, some- 

 what flattened at base. 



Nesting. — Xests in colonies. Xcst: a floating raft of rootlets, moss, and 

 light water-plants, moored in the deeper water at edge of swamp. Eggs: 3-8, 

 light greenish blue, rapidly fading and becoming nest-stained. Av. size, 1.75 x 

 1.20 (44.5 X30.5). Season: c. June 15; one brood. 



General Range. — \\'estern North .-Xmerica, north to Great Slave Lake, east 

 to the ^Mississippi, south to Guatemala, breeding thriiout its range. 



Range in Washington. — Not common winter resident thruout the State, 

 breeding in cxtensi\-e colonies upon lakes of East-side only. 



Authorities. — {Podiccps californicus Heer., Cooper and Suckley, Rep. Pac. 

 R. R. Surv. \'ol. XII. i860, p. 282. "St. Mary's Valley ( W. T.):'\U'yoming 

 Territory). Not a valid Washington record. | ["American eared grebe." John- 

 son, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884 (18851, 2^.\ Keck, Wilson Bulletin, Xo. 47," June 

 T904, ^'ol. X\T. p. 33. 



Specimens. — P". C. 



