136 MANUAL 



many respects, are yet easily told from them at a glance. 

 They were formerly clas.sed as a sub-family of the divers, al- 

 though now made a distinct family. Their habits are, in the 

 main, almost identical. The technical difference between the 

 two families is easily seen by the ap})earance of the feet-webs. 

 The feet of the Loons being what are known as palmate, that 

 is the membrane connecting them is smooth and entire (in- 

 cised, cut into, or not) ; while those of the Grebes are lobate, 

 scalloped or lobed, and running down each side of each toe 

 nearly or quite to its base. Aside from this they are usually 

 much smaller ; the bill blunter ; the wings more rudiment- 

 ary ; the body feathers greasy or oily to the touch ; and ihe 

 plumage vol black and white spotted above and pure white 

 beneath, but more or less brownish dusky all over. 



Gexera, ^chviophorns, 2 species. 



Podiceps, The Amei-ican Red-necked Grebe. 

 Bytes, 3 species. 



Tachybaptes, St. Domingo Grebe. 

 Podilymhus, The Pied-billed Grebe. 



Formerly Podiceps was used for all the Greljes ; later Podilymbus became 

 a stable genera. Colymbus was also used for nearly if not quite all species 

 of both Grebes and Loons. Other synonyms, now somewhat out of date, 

 need not be mentioned here. The Podiceps cristatus, or Crested Grebe, so 

 frequently cited by former writers, is not now recognized even »s being a 

 North American species. 



FAMILY LXII ALCIDAE THE AUKS AND 

 PUFFINS 



Derivation uncertain, perhaps like a/ceilv or halcion, pertaining to the sea. 

 The Auhf< and the Puffins constitute the last family of which 

 we treat, and they are, without doubt, one of the most inter- 

 esting. To study them carefully and fully one must visit them 

 in their home, the Arctic regions of both coasts of both con- 

 tinents ; for there they make their home. The Auhs are the 

 lowest specimens of the bird kingdom the Penguins excepted, 

 and are placed naturally at the end of the bird kingdom ; why 

 writers should be at such pains to reverse this apparently nat- 

 ural order and put the lowest water birds first, thereby ren- 



