PODICIPID.E— THE (IKEBES. 259 



This genus incliidos several subgenera (more or less distinct), 

 of which the following are represented in North America: 



A. Bill about as long as the head; size large (wing more than G.Ofl inches). 



1. Colymbns. 



B. Bill decidedly shorter than head: size smaller (wingless than (i.OO inches). 



2. Dytes. Size medium (winj; more than 5.00 inches); nuptial plumage with conspicu- 



ous head-tufts or rulTs, as in Columbus. 

 [3, Fodiceps. Size small (wing less than 5.00); nuptial plumage without head-tufts or 

 ruffs. (Not represented in the Illinois fauna.)J 



SoBCJENUs COLYMBUS Li.vn.eus. 



Columbitu Linn. S. N. ed. 10, i. 1758. 13.j. Type, by elimination. C. cristatus Linn. 



SuBGEN. Char. Neck much sho:ter than the body; bill about equal to the head, stout 

 (length of the eulmen about three and a half times the depth through the base), the tip blunt, 

 and the outlines more or loss convex; tarsus shorter than middle toe with claw. Breeding 

 plumage ornamented by colored tufts or patches about the head, the winter plumage and 

 the young very different. 



Only one species of this subgenus belongs to North America, 

 the occiirrente of C cristatus — which for half a century or more 

 has been included in most works on North American orni- 

 tiiology, and generally considered a common bird of this coun- 

 try — being so very doubtful that there is not a single reliable 

 record of its having been taken on this continent. For conven- 

 ience of identification, however, in case it should be found in 

 Amei-ica, its characters are given below. 



1. C. holbcellii. Feathers of lower parts white only suporflcially, the ba^es of the feathers 

 biinggruyi-ih, this often partly exposed and showing as a more or less distinct spotting. 

 Xii/itial plumage with top of head black, rest of head ash-gray, bordered above and be- 

 hind by whitish, the neck rusty. 



2. C. cristatns. Feather.s of the lower parts pure white to the extreme base. Nuptialplum,- 

 age with top of head and elongated tufts on each side of owiput glossy black; chin and 

 throat buffy white, this passing bihind into brlt'ht rusty on a very prominent auricu- 

 hir frill, which is lipped with black. Hah. Nearly cosmopolitan, but no reliable North 

 American record. 



Colymbus holbcellii (Ilcinh.) 



HOLBCELL'S 6E£B£. 

 Popular synonyms. American Red-necked Grebe ; Cooper's Qrobe. 

 roiiicpjis rubricoUis ■■LATB."DoNAP.Synop 1«2S,417.— Sw.RiCH.F. B.-A. 11,1831,411.— NUTT. 



Man. 11,1834, 253.— AUD. Orn. Biog. ill, 1835, 617, pi. 298; Synop. 183fl,357; B. Am. vll, 



1844.312, pi. 480. 

 Podicens riihricnUis major Temm. & ScBLEO. Faun. Jap. 1840. pi. 78 b (not Columbus 



major Bodd. 1783). 

 Poiliceiis holhif.Uii'Rziva. Vid. Meddel. 1853, 76; Ibis, 1861, 14 (Greenland).— CouES.Proo. 



Acad. Nat. 3cl. Phlla. 1862, 231.— Bidow. Nom. Am. B. 1881, No. 731. 



