HORNED GREBE 
3. Colymbus awritus. 14 inches. 
As is usual with grebes, summer brings a remark- 
able change in the dress of these birds. The black, puffy 
head is adorned with a pair of buffy white ear tufts 
and the foreneck is a rich chestnut color. In winter, 
they are plain gray and white but the secondaries are 
always largely white, as they are in the two preceding 
and the following species. The grebe diet consists al- 
most wholly of small fish, which they are very expert 
at pursuing and catching under water. One that 1 kept 
in captivity in a large tank, for a few weeks, would 
never miss catching the shiners, upon which he was fed, 
at the first lightning-like dart of his slender neck. They 
also eat quantities of shell fish, and I doubt if they will 
refuse any kind of flesh, for they always have a keen 
appetite. 
Nest.—A slovenly built pile of vegetation floating in 
the ‘“ sloughs ” of western prairies. The 3 to 7 eggs are 
usually stained brownish yellow (1.70 x 1.15). 
Range.—Breeds from Northern Illinois and So. Dakota 
northward; winters from northern U. 8. to the Gulf of 
Mexico. 
