NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 175 



1.56 to 1.86 long by 1.12 to 1.21 broad. The Horned Grebe is a gen- 

 erally diffused and an abundant species throughout North America, breed- 

 ing from the Northern United St-ites northward. Nesting like that of 



the other Grebes. Hab. Northern Hemisphere. 



ISoa. American Eared Grebe — dytes nigricollis californicus. 

 Faint yellowish-white, usually become stained by the habits of the bird 

 and nature of the nest; texture of shell quite smooth, but the eggs are 

 not distinguishable from those of the Horned Grebe, and the nesting is 

 as usual. This is the commonest species of grebe breeding in the pools 

 and marshes west of the Mississippi River. 



Hab. Northern and Western North America, from the Mississippi Valley westward. 



735. Thick-billed Grebe — podilymbus podiceps. The Pied billed 

 Dabchick is one of the best known of the Grebes, and is remarkably com- 

 mon throughout temperate North America, breeding nearly throughout its 

 range. It is commonly known as the Dipper, Waterwitch, or Devil-diver, 

 from its expertness in diving; a noted quality in all the birds of 

 this family. They all have the curious habit of quietly sinking beneath 

 the surface of the water like the Anhinga, often swimming with only 

 the head exposed. The nest of the grebes is formed of decaying vege- 

 tation and mud, close to water and often floating among aquatic plants. 

 Whatever may be the grounds for the more or less prevailing doubt 

 among ornithological writers in regard to the "floating nests" of the 

 grebes, it is, nevertheless, a fact that in nearly all cases the nest of the 

 Dabchick does float. It is a little floating island of weeds, grasses, moss 

 and other decaying vegetable matter, often mixed with mud, measuring 

 twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, and rising two or three inches above 

 the water, and it may be from one , to three feet in depth. It is an- 

 chored to the bottom with a few blades of grass, or flags in a little 

 open bay or reedy pool, and the circumference is often entirely free. 

 Again, the nest is visibly attached to the flags or grasses, as represented in 

 in Plate VII ; it rises and falls with the water. Sometimes it is made by the 

 tops of grass bent down so as to form part of it. In the last edition of this work 

 I stated that the usual number of eggs laid was five; this was based on the 

 grounds of a large series of sets then in my possession, most of which 

 contained five eggs. They vary, however, from five to eight, and I know 

 of several instances of nin.e eggs, but the complement is usually seven. 

 They are yellowish- white, with a greenish tint in some; many of the 

 eggs become stained from the habits of the birds and nature of the nest. 

 Size about 1.75 by 1.15, narrow-elongate, and, like all eggs of the grebes, 

 more or less covered with a chalky substance. What is remarkable in 



