68 Notes on the Holboell Grebe 



FOOD, feeding and DRINKING. 



On the first day strips of raw meat and fresh lettuce were 

 placed in a dish of water before the grebe. These were poked 

 tentatively, then fished out onto the floor, but not eaten. The 

 bird seemed inclined to flop himself into the dish. Towards 

 night two small pellets of raw beef steak were forced down 

 his throat. On the second day I placed a four inch wild fish 

 (shiner?) in a dish filled with water. This was set on the 

 floor in front of the bird. He gave the fish a slight poke 

 whereupon it swam around violently. Making a quick thrust 

 he caught it, grasping it crosswise with the bill — not impal- 

 ing it. The fish then went through a course of pinching from 

 head to tail, being hitched along from side to side in the bill. 

 It was then turned about and gulped down head first. Later 

 in the day three out of four strips of raw white-fish were eat- 

 en, each about the size of a man's finger. These the grebe 

 bruised and .shook until small fragments flew several feet 

 around. At this time of the year Hve food was scarce, but 

 we succeeded in finding a few small aquatic animals. By the 

 twenty-seventh of February the grebe had eaten — all volun- 

 untarily — the following: 



ID live gold fish — 2 to 5 inches long. 



2 pieces raw steak (taken from water). 



1 four-inch wild fish. 



2 large tad-poles. 



7 medium sized dragon-fly larvae. 



In swallowing the large gold-fishes the birds jaws seemed 

 to be distended laterally and he gulped so violently that the 

 back of his head struck his back with a hollow "tunking" 

 sound. This operation apparently jarred the fish past the 

 sticking point. When very hungry the grebe swallowed the 

 fishes alive. Of the cray fishes offered him only the small or 

 soft ones were eaten, and no great relish was shown. Earth- 

 worms, when their season came, were eaten with avidity, but 

 raw beef-steak (lean) was the principal article of diet with the 

 bird during his stay with us. This came to be taken from 

 the hand, the floor, or water indifferently. In swallowing 

 food the grebe always threw his head outside the normal in 

 violent gulpings, in this respect, as in most, differing from 

 a contemporary coot captive which drew the food into his 



