20 
AMERICAN EARED GREBE 
4. Colymbus nigricollis californicus. 13 inches. 
This is a western species rarely found east of the 
Mississippi. In summer, it differs from the last in hav- 
ing the entire neck black; in winter it can always be 
distinguished from the Horned Grebe by its slightly 
upeurved bill, while the upper mandible of the last is 
convex. In powers of swimming and diving, grebes are 
not surpassed by any of our water birds. They dive 
at the flash of a gun and swim long distances before 
coming to the surface; on this account they are often 
called “ devil divers.” They fly swiftly when once a-wing, 
but their concave wings are so small that they have to 
patter over the water with their feet in order to rise. 
Nest.—They nest in colonies, often in the same sloughs 
with Horned and Western Grebes, laying their eggs 
early in June. The 4 to 7 eggs are dull white, usually 
stained brownish, and cannot be separated from those 
of the last. 
Range.—Western N. A., breeding from Texas to Mani- 
toba and British Columbia; winters in western U. 8. 
and Mexico. 
