THE HORNED GREBE. 885 
No. 357. 
HORNED GREBE: 
A. O. U. No. 3. Colymbus auritus Linn. 
Description.—4dult in nuptial plumage: Forehead and crown, with throat 
and sides of head around on nape, sooty black, deepening and becoming glossy 
posteriorly ; area included by these patches (lores and sides of crown) buffy och- 
raceous, changing to rufous on lores and the short dense occipital crest; neck in 
front and on sides and fore-breast rich cinnamon-rufous, shading on breast into 
the satiny white of belly; sides (well up under wing), and flank patches tinged 
with rufous and overlaid with some dusky; upperparts grayish black, becoming 
grayish brown on wings and varied by some edging of lighter grayish brown; 
primaries clear light brown; secondaries mostly white, forming a quasi speculum; 
bill black with yellow on lower mandible and tip; feet dusky externally, in- 
ternally mostly yellow. Adult in winter and unmature: No rufous anywhere; 
above uniform grayish black; below, including sides of head, pure white, some- 
times tinged on neck and fore-breast with ashy brown; sparingly dusky-shaded 
on sides ; bill with less black. Length 12.50-15.00 (317.5-381) ; wing 5.37 (136.4) ; 
bill .93 (23.6), depth at base .32 (8.1); tarsus 1.82 (46.2). 
Recognition Marks.—Teal size; breeding plumage with black and red on 
head (especially red lores) distinctive for size; slender bill; the pure white of 
throat and sides of head contrasting with blackish above affords the best field 
mark in winter; not certainly distinguishable out of hand from the next species, 
in winter plumage. 
Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. Nest: of half-submerged or 
floating vegetation, usually anchored to reeds growing in swamp water. Eggs: 
2-7, elongated oval, pale bluish white, but usually more or less discolored by nest. 
AVE SIZE) 1-7/5 1218 (Ad.5 K 30). 
General Range.—Northern hemisphere; breeds from northern United States 
northward. 
Range in Washington.—Common winter resident and migrant thruout the 
State; abundant on salt water. 
Authorities.—Podiceps cornutus, Lath., Lawrence, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. 
IX. 1858, p. 896. T. C&S. Rh. D'. Kk. B. E. 
Specimens.—(U. of W.) Prov. B. BN. E. 
APPARENTLY nothing is more attractive to a school of herring (all 
little fish which attend school are herring for practical purposes) than a maze 
of piles supporting a wharf. They crowd into the shadowy aisles and survey 
the retreating vistas with the dumb wonder of children at Karnak. A few 
nibble at the hieroglyphics traced by barnacles on the pillars, or tweak in mis- 
chief at the wan whiskers of the serried anemones. Suddenly a silver shudder 
thrills the school. A flash of white sides is followed by a dash for the depths, 
and there emerges from the tumult a gray apparition which resolves itself into 
