THE AMERICAN EARED GREBE. 



889 



fiery red. so bright as to appear to impart a glow to the face visible to 

 the naked eye at fortv paces. 



The nesting season is apparently a little later than that of other grebes; 

 but to observation its nesting is hopelessly entangled with that of the Pied- 

 billed Grebe. The eggs of the two species are absolutely indistinguishable. 

 The nests, if any constant difference exists, are usualh- placed more in the 

 open and in deeper water. 



Several seasons ago we camped on a tin}- island in Ahises Lake where 

 Eared Grebes were common and Pied-bills imthought of. The nests were 

 sturdv platforms of bulrushes, clean-looking and fresh, floating securelv in 



Brook Lake. 



Ploto by the Author. 



THE NESTING SWAMP. 



ten feet of water. We accepted a set of eight in the name of science and 

 thanked c^ur lucky stars that there was nci suspicion of plebeian strain thereto 

 appertaining. But great was our disa])pointment in the morning upon seeing 

 a Pied-billed Grebe clad in the smug humilit}- of Uriah Heep, taking furtive 

 observations offshore. 



Better luck awaited us last }'ear at Brook Lake where the whole Eared 

 population, after weeks of dallying, fell to and nested. Thev colonized in 

 the deep water on the lakeward side of the swamp and so thicklv that one 

 might touch a dozen nests with the paddle while the boat was at rest. We 

 counted eighty occupied nests and as many more not quite finished in the 

 space of an acre, on the 12th of June. 



