podicipid^e — the grebes — podilymbus. 441 



Hab. Greater part of South America, whole of Middle America, West Indies, and temperate 

 North America, breeding nearly throughout its range. South to Brazil, Buenos Ayres, and Chili, 

 north to British Provinces. Bermudas. 



Sp. Char. Adult, breeding-plumage: Chin, throat, and a spot at the base of the mandible, 

 black ; rest of the head and neck brownish gray, darker on the pileum and nape, lighter on the 

 sides of the head, the malar region light ashy, streaked with dusky. Upper parts uniform dusky 

 grayish brown, the remiges paler, the inner webs of the secondaries tipped with white ; lower parts 

 grayish white, everywhere spotted with dusky grayish. Bill milk-white, crossed past the middle 





Summer adult. 



by a black band, the terminal portion more bluish ; eyelids white ; naked lores bluish ; iris rich 

 dark brown, with a narrow outer ring of ochraceous-white, and an inner thread-like ring of pure 



white ; tar^i and toes greenish slate-black on the outer, and plumbeous on the inner side. 1 Winter 

 plumage: Head and neck dull brownish, darker on the pileum and nape, and becoming white on 

 the chin and throat (sometimes also on the malar region); lower parts silvery white, brownish later- 

 ally and posteriorly ; upper parts as in the summer plumage. Bill horn-color, becoming blackish 

 nasally and on the culmen; lower mandible more lilaceous, with a dusky lateral stripe; iris of 

 three distinct colors, disposed in concentric rings, the first (around the pupil) clear milk-white, 

 the next dark olive-brown, the outer pale ochraceous-brown, the dark ring reticulated into the 

 lighter; tarsi and toes greenish slate, the joints darker. 5 Young, first plumage : Similar to the 

 winter dress, but side and under part of the head white, indefinitely striped with brown, the throat 

 sometimes immaculate. Downy young : Head and neck distinctly striped with white and black ; 

 a spot of rufous on the middle of the crown, one on each side the occiput, and one on the upper 

 part of the nape ; the latter confluent with two white stripes running down the nape, the others 

 entirely surrounded with black ; upper parts blackish dusky, marked with four longitudinal stripes 

 or lines of gTayish white running the whole length of the body; lower parts immaculate white 

 medially, dusky grayish anteriorly, laterally, and posteriorly. 



Total length, about 13.25 to 15.00 inches ; extent, 20.00-23.00 ; wing, 4.50-5.00 ; culmen, .75 ; 

 depth of bill at base, .45 ; tarsus, 1.40 ; middle toe without claw, 1.80. 



We are entirely unable to discover any tangible difference between several South American 

 examples, in different stages of plumage, and North American specimens, and can therefore see no 

 reason for admitting the so-called P. antarcticus. 



The " Pied-billed " or " Carolina Grebe " is an exclusively American species, and 

 is widely distributed. It is found throughout South and North America from Cape 

 Horn to the Mackenzie River, and occurs on the Pacific as well as on the Atlantic 

 coast. It is resident in Santo Domingo, Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad, and probably in 

 most of the West India Islands, is also resident in Central America, and probably 

 in Mexico. To what extent it is anywhere resident, or only a visitor, is with 



1 Fresh colors of an adult female killed March '24 at Carson City, Nev. 



2 From a specimen killed November IS at Truekee Meadows, Nev. 

 vol. II. — 56 



