DIVING BIRDS—Order Pygopodes 
GREBES—Family Colymbide 
WESTERN GREBE 
1. Hehmophorus occidentalis. 25 to 29 inches. 
All grebes have lobate-webbed feet, that is each toe |. 
has its individual web, being joined to its fellow only 
for a short distance at the base. 
This, the largest of our grebes, is frequently known | 
as the “Swan Grebe” because of its extremely long, thin § 
neck. In summer the back of the neck is black, but | 
in winter it is gray like the back. 
Notes.—Loud, quavering and cackling. 
Nest.—A floating mass of decayed rushes, sometimes 
attached to upright stalks. The 2 to 5 eggs are pale, 
bluish white, usually stained (2.40 x 1.55). They {8 
breed in colonies. 
Range.—Western North America, from the Dakotas | 
and Manitoba to the Pacific, and north to southern 
Alaska. Winters in the Pacific coast states and 
Mexico. 
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