VOL. VI. 



ALBION, N. Y, NOV., 1889. 



NO. 11 



The Thick-billed Grebe. 



( Fi)iji/ijiiil>ns p<i(lci'/)s.} 



AltliDiig-li this is one of tlie most gen- 

 erally distributed of (irebes, ranging 

 nearly oxer the entire United States 

 aiid beyond, I iiave seen very few arti- 

 cles written on this very interesting 

 bii'd. rrol)al)ly its rtitiring habits, or 

 rathei'the plaeing of its nest where it 

 can not often be readied withont a boat, 

 is tin- reason why it is not more geiier- 

 ally ohscrx'ed. 



In most of our small lakes here will 

 be found a growth of coarse rushes ex- 

 tending to a greater (H- le.ss degree 

 (ivei- the entire lake. Among these 

 rushes will be found the summer home 

 of the Pied-billed Grebe, known in oui' 

 1 >eal vernacular as "Hell-diver." 



This Grebe, like the l.,oon, will dive 

 at the Hash of a gun, making it very 

 diftieult to shoot one if it should see 

 you; or sitting on the water, it will 

 (jnietiy sink baekward, disappeai-ing 

 l)encath the surface, leaving seareely a 

 i-il)ple V mark the sjjot it had occupied 

 l)Ut a 111 onn^nt before. 



■ Their nest is composed of rushes and 

 decaying vegetation. The rushes 

 pulled up from the bottom of the lake 

 and ))lace(l crossing ea<'li other on the 

 \>ater, with the >ma!l ends farthest 

 from llie t-enter, and serving a doidde 

 })urpose as a iloat and as a foundation 

 for the heavier material whieh is gath- 

 ered togeth.er in a little lieaj) from two 

 to four inches in height, and perhaps 

 six or eight in iliann'ter, hollowed just 

 enough to keej) the eggs from rolling 

 into the water, proi)a!)ly not over an 

 incli. In this depression are deposited 

 tJie ti\(' to eight eggs, generally six or 

 seven, commonly eight, rarely ten, al- 

 ways wet from the soaking and decay- 

 ing vegetation of which, as I have said, 

 the nest is composed, and always 



warm from the heat generated by the 

 (lecom])osition of tiie same materials. 

 In color theyare a light greenish-blue, 

 when freshly laid, resembling the tint 

 found in some Heron eggs, or like the 

 eggs of the Least Bittern; but they 

 soon take on a dee]) buff, drab or light- 

 brown shade from coming in contaet 

 with the nest. Some few, even after 

 l)eing in the nest quite a while, retain 

 the original coloi- in spots, giving the 

 egg a cloudy, mottled appearance. 

 Still others take on a uniform dirty or 

 greyish-white, not showing the heavier 

 stain at all . 



1 have very sekhmi found a set of 

 eggs without a few showing a rough, 

 warty excrescence or calcareous deposit 

 in sjxits on the shell. When found the 

 eggs are almost ahvays covered with 

 decayed rushes and grass taken from 

 around the nest by the parent bird. 

 Although I have collected a few sets 

 that were uncovered when found, it is 

 an exception and not the rule to find 

 them where their has not at least been 

 some visibb- attempt at covering them. 

 Only in one instance have I seen the 

 ])ird cover her eggs, and then I found 

 the nest, to hei-. unexpectedly. She 

 stood upright on the edge of the nest 

 and drawing her head down until her 

 l)iil nearly or quite rested on her breast, 

 she, with a forward and upward move- 

 ment, pushed and lifted part of the nest 

 upon the eggs, repeating the operation 

 two or three times, smoothing it over 

 them with about the same motion that 

 a duck goes through in feeding when 

 on the water. This was all done in less 

 time than it takes to tell it, and throw- 

 ing herself backward ofl' the nest, she 

 disappeared beneath the water. 



From as careful an observance of 

 this bird as I have been able to make, 

 ami a wide range of experience as re- 



