Grebes. 



Order, Pygoj^odes. 

 Family, Podicipidae. 



6. PIED-BILLED GREBE. Podilymhus podiceps. Thirteen and 

 a half inches long. Dull brownish drab above and white below except 

 for his black throat. This little "dabchick" can be identified by the 

 black band around the middle of his bill and by his short tail. He is 

 one of several birds that the boys call "hell-diver". His long lobed 

 toes enable him to prove his title to the name. Can be found on al- 

 most any Western pond and even in the wet places along railroad 

 tracks. 



2. RED-NECKED GREBE or HOLBOELL'S GREBE. Colymbus 

 holboelii. Nineteen inches long. The red neck of this grebe is his 

 special marking though he has a black crown and a small black crest 

 to give beauty to an otherwise dull body. Dusky above and grayish 

 white below. 



4. EARED GREBE. Colymbus nigricollis calif amicus. Thir- 

 teen inches long. The yellow tufts of feathers extending backward 

 from the eyes are the conspicuous marks. Head black. Sides brown. 

 Back dull black. Breast white. 



PIED-BILLED GREBE. 



One of the most interesting of birds is this little fellow that 

 is so often mistaken for a duck. "Hell-diver" they call him and 

 surely he is an artist in the water. Many a gunner has seen his 

 shot scatter over the surface of the pond where a second before 

 he saw this elusive bird, for just as the gun flashed the ''dab- 

 chick" "ducked" quicker than a flash and did not reappear until 

 he was at a safe distance from the gunner. Scientists tell us 

 that he belongs to the lowest order of bird life and is but little 

 removed from the reptiles but he is all the more interesting if 

 that be true. 



The grebe builds a floating nest and lays its white eggs in 

 & slight depression on its weed-raft. The heat of its body, the 



