PODICIPID.E— THK GREBES. 



26l 



very little above the surface of the water, and contained three 

 eggs. He saw the female, but only at a distance; both this 

 species and the Horned Grebe {C. aurltm) being seldom or never 

 seen to leave their nests, as they quietly slip into the water and 

 dive at once. After incnbation has begun, the female, when she 

 leaves her nest, covers up her eggs with wet grass taken from 

 the bottom of her nest, unless compelled to depart on the in- 

 stant. In several cases Mr. Kennicott found the eggs quite 

 warm when thus hidden; and he was convinced that the bird 

 could only have just left the nest on his approach, but that she 

 had stopped long enough to conceal her eggs. The top of the 

 nest is always more or less wet, and this causes the discol- 

 oration of the eggs. ( ^Yafl'l• Birdx of Xorth. America, Vol. II., 

 p. 430.) 



Subgenus BYTES K.\i p. 



hjlies Eaup, 8k. Ent. EurThierw. 1829, 49. Type. Coltimbus coriintiisOtyimj.,=C. nuri- 

 tus LmN. 



Proctopus Kaup, 1. c. Type, Podireps nigricollis Bbehm. 



0<odi/(es Reich. Syst. Nat. 1853, p. ili. Tive, I', nlaricollin. 



SuBOEN. Chae. Bill much shorter than the head, the culmcn equal to about 3 to S!i 

 times the basal depth. Otherwise like Colyrnliun, but size less (wing not more than 6.00 

 inches). 



The two North American species of this subgenus, both of 

 which occur in Illinois, though very distinct in their nuptial 

 livery, are much alike in their winter and immature plumages. 

 The shape of the bill, however, will enable one to distinguish 

 them readily if the following differences are kept in mind: 



1. C. auritos. Bill compressed (deeper than wide at the base): nuptial plumaee with 

 lower neck and chost rufons, sides of the occiput with a very full dense tuft of soft, blended, 

 ochraeeous feathers. 



2. C. nigrioollis califomious. Bill depressed <broader than deep at the base); nbptial 

 plumaee, with bead, neck, and chest black, the sides of the head, behind eyns, with a 

 somewhat fan-shaped, loose patch of slender ochraceoos feathers. 



Colymbus auritus Linn. 



HOBN£D GREBE 

 Fopolar sjmonyma. Dusky Grebe; Sclavonian Grobu; Hell-diver: Di-d!ppcr. 

 Columbus aurilu$ Linn. 3. N. od. 10 i, n:>8. 135: ed. 12, i, 1766, 222.— A. O. V. Chock List, 1886, 

 No. 3.— BiDow. Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 5. 

 Vl/ten aurittta RiDGW. Nom. N. Am. B. l»il. No. 732.-B. B. 4 B. Water B. N. Am. li, 

 1884.432. 



