PODICIPID-E — THE GREBES — DYTES. 



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Genus DYTES, Kaup. 



D'jlrs, KAur, Sk. Ent. Eur. Thierwr. 1829, W (type, Colymbus cornutus, Gmel.= C. auritus, Linn.). 

 Proclopus, Kaup, 1. c. (type, Podiceps nigricollis, Brehm). 

 Olodytes, Reich. Syst. Nat. 1853, p. iii (same type). 



Char. Size small (wing 5.00 to 6.00 inches) ; neck much shorter than the body ; 1 > i 1 1 much 

 shorter than the head, the culmen equal to about three to three and a half times the basal depth ; 

 tarsus about as long as the middle toe without the claw. Breeding-plumage ornamented with 

 colored tufts and patches about the held. 



Two well-marked species of this genus occur in North America, their characters being 

 follows: — 



D. auritus. Bill compressed (deeper than wide at the base). Breeding-plumagi : Lower 



neck and jugulum rufous; sides of occiput with very full tuft, of dense, soft, blended 



ochraceous feathers. Hah. Northern hemisphere. 

 D. nigricollis. Bill depressed (wider than deep at the base). Breeding-plumage: Lower 



neck and jugulum black ; sides of head behind eyes with a tuft-like patch of slender 



acicular ochraceous feathers. 

 a. Three or four inner primaries mostly or entirely white. Hob. Palaearctic Region, 



and Greenland. Nigricollis. 

 |3. Inner primaries with inner webs wholly dusky ; colors decidedly duller, and bill 



slenderer. Huh. Western North America. Californicus. 



