86 WATER BIRDS 
These habits in the care of the young characterize all 
species of grebes, for in no birds are the family traits 
more prominent than among these queer divers. To the 
shame of all plumage-hunters be it said, the love of the 
grebes for their young is one cause of the rapid diminu- 
tion of their number, for so expert are the grebes in div- 
ing at the flash of the gun that, but for the mother love 
which impels them to protect their helpless little ones, 
they could easily escape. But they are mercilessly shot 
while defending their nests, and the young are left to 
starve, while the silvery breast of the motney bird adorns 
the hat of a thoughtless woman. 
6. PIED-BILLED GREBE. — Podilymbus podiceps. 
(Common names: Hell Diver ; Water Witch ; Dabchick.) 
Famity: The Grebes. 
Length: 13.50. 
Adults in Summer: Upper parts glossy blackish brown ; sides of head 
and entire neck soft gray-brown; throat black; upper breast and 
sides of belly light gray-brown, indistinctly mottled with dusky ; 
belly and lower breast glossy white; bill light, crossed by black 
band. 
Winter Plumage: Throat changed from black to dull white; head 
browner; lower parts whiter, with no dusky spots; white bill 
replaced by brown without black band. 
Young: Similar to winter adults, but sides of head striped with brown. 
Downy Youny: Head and neck black and white with rufous spot on 
crown; upper parts blackish, with stripes of white. 
Geographicul Distribution: The whole of North America from Mexico to 
Hudson Bay. 
Breeding Range: Breeds locally throughout its habitat. 
Breeding Season: Approximately, May 15 to July 1. 
Nest: A more or less solid structure of mud, marsh grass, and wet weeds ; 
fastened to growing plants. Sometimes built entirely up from the 
bottom of the slough, and sometimes laid on the rushes pulled over 
