PODICiriD^E — THE GREBES — PODILYMBUS. 443 



states that it is found in winter about marshy lakes throughout California, and that 

 it also breeds there. The nest is built near the edge of the water. One of the nests 

 which Dr. Cooper found was floating in water over two feet deep, but was held in its 

 place by the stalks of living plants, to which it was fastened by the aid of the rushes 

 of which it was composed Its shape was conical, and it was a foot wide at the 

 bottom and nine inches at the top, where it was slightly hollowed out. The eggs 

 — four in number — were white, with brownish incrustations, and of nearly equal 

 size at both ends. The eggs found on the 11th of June at Puget Sound were just 

 ready to hatch. 



These birds are usually perfectly fearless, swimming quite near to the spectator, 

 and trusting to their power of diving to escape from danger. They become suspicious, 

 however, after having been shut at. They can swim to a long distance under water, 

 merely raising the bill above the surface occasionally, and they are somewhat noc- 

 turnal in habit. In the spring they make a loud and sonorous braying noise. They 

 feed on small fish and insects, and prefer to hunt for them in places covered with 

 dense aquatic vegetation, being chiefly fresh-water birds, though seeking the bays in 

 the winter. This bird has the singular habit, in common with all the other Grebes, 

 of sinking down gradually and backwards into the water until it entirely disappears, 

 not leaving a ripple on the surface. This it does in order to escape, when not 

 compelled to dive quickly. 



Mr. John Xantus found this Grebe at Manzanilla Bay, in Western Mexico, where 

 it was not abundant. 



In Southern Wisconsin this species goes by the name — more emphatic than 

 euphonious — of " Hell-diver." Mr. Kumlien informs me that it breeds there both in 

 the lake and in the mill-pond, the nest being very bulky. Of these birds in the full 

 plumage he has seen only a single specimen, although he has obtained a great many 

 individuals. They exhibit greater variations in size than any bird with which he is 

 acquainted. They are found from April 13 to October 20. 



Mr. B. F. Goss writes me that he has found this bird common on the lakes of 

 Wisconsin, nesting about the 20th of May, on rushes of the previous .year, in water 

 from one to three feet deep. In such situations the old rushes are piled upon each 

 other until the fabric rises to the top of the water; a nest formed of moss and 

 weeds gathered from the bottom is raised but little, and is always wet except when 

 the water has receded and left it higher than it was originally built. It appears like 

 a circular mass of weeds and moss, about the size of a dinner plate, floating on the 

 water, and when filled with eggs and carefully covered, it resembles a floating ball, 

 and would be passed without notice by one unacquainted with its peculiarity. It 

 does not, however, really float, as its foundations rest more or less perfectly on the 

 bottom. The eggs — five in number — are white at first; but are soon stained by 

 contact with the wet nest. .Sometimes the shell is quite rough, and has a calcareous 

 incrustation. In the absence of the bird the eggs are usually carefully covered. 

 This is done with surprising quickness when the nest is approached, the bird always 

 escaping unseen. The many nests Mr. Goss has examined were always alike, always 

 in shallow water, and constructed of rushes, never of flags, grass, or weeds, however 

 abundant these might be. The bird is very shy in the breeding-season, keeping out 

 of sight ; and even where abundant its presence may remain unsuspected. He spent 

 several days among its haunts, and found numerous nests without seeing a single 

 bird ; and it was only by concealing himself, and watching the nest with a field-glass, 

 that he was able to identify the species. 



Eggs of this species from Cuba, Jamaica, Great Slave Lake, Michigan, Illinois, and 



