BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 83 
garious, like all the grebes, it nests in colonies sometimes 
numbering a hundred. A marshy place where there is 
water from two to four feet deep is chosen, so that 
safety from storm may be secured for the nest among 
the strong rushes, and escape from pursuit may be found 
for parent and young by diving directly from the nest 
into the water. Knowing their helplessness on land, 
the wise grebes avoid all travel on it for themselves 
and their broods. The nest platform of rushes is made 
by pulling the reeds down one by one until they he 
criss-cross on the surface of the water. Upon this 
foundation is placed decaying vegetation of all sorts, 
picked out of the water,—apparently the wetter the 
better. The eggs when first laid are a pale blue-green, 
but soon become a dirty brownish color from contact 
with the slime of the nest. 
Naturalists assert that all grebes cover their eggs 
during absence both for purposes of concealment and 
to assist incubation. I believe, however, that this is 
less the practice of Western Grebes than of any other 
variety, for out of many nests I visited only one was 
covered, while I have never found the nest of either 
a pied-billed grebe or an American eared grebe where 
there had not been at least an attempt at covering. 
The eggs of the Western species also are invariably less 
stained than those of either of the others, a fact which 
may support the theory that they are not so fully covered. 
Kges of the American eared grebe are often found in 
the nest of a Western Grebe, but never, to my knowl- 
edge, vice versa. I believe this is to be accounted for 
