888 



THE AMERICAN EARED GREBE. 



IT lins l)i,'eii a blazing day. fi>r June, even in the Big Benil country, 

 but ni'w the sun has sunk behind the Cascades and tlie earfli lias already 

 begun to exhale the fresh odors of recovering darkness. The modest chores 

 of camp-life are done, kindling split for morning and laid away tmder the 

 flap of the tent, a fresh covering of rye grass cut to cushion the bumps in 

 the ground which gradually rexealed themselves in last night's slumbers; 

 and now^ we mav lounge 1)_\' the brink of the lake, flip pebbles at its unruffled 



face, or resign ourselves to the 



peace of nightfall. M(.)st birds 

 have properly tucked head under 

 wing, and even the Xighthawks 

 are less feverish in their ex- 

 ertions: but not so with the 

 Eared Grebes. It is the magic 

 hour of courtship, and near and 

 far from the open water or its 

 weedy margins sounds tin- mel- 

 low poo-cep poo-ccp of these 

 idyllic swains. The sound is 

 given (Ielil)eratel\' with a gently 

 rising inflection. Init seems to 

 x'anish into silence at the end 

 \vitli a sort of saber-like nour- 

 ish. Now and again some 

 Romeo, more ardent than his 

 mates, hursts into an excited 

 hickii rick' up, liicko rick'iip. Iiicko 

 rickiip. The birds spread freely 

 rill o\er the lake irrespective of 

 their nesting haunt.s, and so 

 numerous are they that at times 

 tlie\- maintain a chorus of the 

 \-olume and ])ersistency of that 

 furnished b\- a first-class frog- 

 ])ond in March. 



How handsome these creatures really are we shall see by the morn- 

 ing light, wdien a pair of them, accepted lovers, come into our cove in 

 quest of provender. There is no partiality shown by Nature to either 

 sex in the way of wedding garments. The up])erparts and liead are of 

 shining black save for the fan-shaped patches on the sides of the face 

 which are whitish or straw-yellow abo\e aiifl rufescent below, while the 

 sides of the bird, so prominent in a grelje, are pure rufous. The eye is 



Photo {retouched) by the 

 AMERICAN E.^RED GREBE. 



IN SUMMER PLUMAGE. 



