Breeding-plumage o/"Podiceps occidentalis. 99 



was in full nuptial dress. I saw at once that it differed from 

 Podiceps major (Bodd.), PI. Enl. 404, admirably figured by 

 Jardine and Selby (111. Orn, pi. 107) under the name o 

 P. leucopterus, King. Of this bird I have a specimen in 

 breeding-plumage obtained by Mr. Bridges in Chili. It is 

 impossible on comparing the two birds to confuse them, 

 and I can only suppose that Sir W. Jardine labelled his 

 specimen without comparison; and indeed his own collection 

 does not appear to have contained a South-American 

 specimen of P. major. 



The breeding-plumage of P. occidentalis appears to be 

 quite unknown; at least I can find no description of it in 

 the latest North-American works on the subject*. They do 

 but repeat the remark of Prof. Baird : — " It is fair to infer 

 that in its nuptial attire it makes a grand display. In this 

 plumage its acquisition is very desirable " (Baird^s Birds, 

 p. 894). Both the North- and South- American species are 

 representatives rather of P. griseigena than? of P. cristatus. 

 My specimen from Vancouver Island agrees in measurements 

 with Baird's Puget Sound specimen. The cheeks, throat, 

 and ear- coverts are silvery white, the forehead and occiput 

 are glossy green-black, forming an elongated massive crest, 

 behind which the white of the throat extends in a narrow line, 

 forming a narrow collar only interrupted in the centre of the 

 back of the neck. The line of the white throat is sharply 

 defined, and the front and sides of the neck are a rich chestnut, 

 becoming gradually paler as it blends with the silvery white 

 breast and abdomen. The nuptial dress of P. occidentalis, it 

 will be seen from this description, differs from that of its 

 southern congener, P. major, which has the throat dark ashy 

 grey, becoming almost black as it approaches the chestnut of 

 the neck ; while P. griseigena has the throat light ashy grey 

 bordered with white. The crest or ruff of the northern bird 

 is also decidedly larger and thicker than that of either of its 

 congeners. 



• [We would suggest a reference to 'The Water-Birds of North 

 America/ by Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, vol, ii. p. 422 (Boston, 

 1884).— Edd.] 



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