^°'i9lf ^"^1 Cahn, The Freezing of Caynga Lake. 441 



shallower water, where it suddenly dove and remained down over a minute. 

 It reappeared finally over two hundred feet away, crawling upon the thin 

 ice through a hole which it had made with its head and bill. The bird was 

 taken from the ice without a struggle or attempt to escape. The other 

 ten living specimens were picked up from the ice on the lake proper, far 

 from any open water. 



The stomach contents of the specimens that were found dead were 

 examined and proved interesting, as in each case the sole material found 

 proved to be a ball of feathers.' Both the feathers and the inner wall of 

 the gizzard were stained a deep and briUiant emerald green, so that when 

 the contents were removed they appeared to be a mass of dried Algse. 

 Several of the feathers were dried, after having been thoroughly cleansed, 

 and were identified as coming from the belly of the Grebe itself. There is 

 room for a great deal of conjecture as to the significance of these feathers 

 in the gizzard. All the birds examined were fat, and had died probably as 

 as a result of severe exposure, rather than of starvation. Mr. L. A. Fuertes 

 tells me that the gizzards of the various species of grebes found in this 

 country, which he has examined, have invariably contained a few, and in 

 some specimens, quite a ball of feathers. The green coloring matter 

 proved to be bile. The presence of this bile in the gizzard is another 

 interesting point, a condition due possibly to abstinence from food, as it 

 was present in the case of every bird examined, and present in such abun- 

 dance as to be very noticeable. There are records, then, of eleven living 

 birds that were captured. Besides these, in the area between Ludlow- 

 ville and the south end of the lake, seventeen specimens were found dead 

 upon the ice, making a total of twenty-eight birds for eight square miles, 

 and undoubtedly there were some of which nothing is known. The Hol- 

 boell's Grebe, because of its highly specialized form, probably suffered the 

 most of all the birds upon the lake, and few, if any, escaped. 



The vitality of these birds is truly remarkable. As the lake froze on the 

 10th, the birds had their last possible chance to feed on that date. A male, 

 the only one which showed signs of the red neck, which was taken on the 

 r2th, died on the 28th without having eaten during its captivity. In 

 marked contrast to the other specimens, this bird showed no trace of fat, 

 and instead of weighing 2.5 lbs., which was the average of those that died of 

 exposure, it weighed a scant 1.25 lbs. The average measurements of four 

 birds were: length, 20 in.; extent, 30.8 in.; wing, 7.5 in.; bill along gape, 

 2.8 in.; tarsus, 2.5 in. Average weight, 2.5 lbs. 



2. Colymbus auritus. Horned Grebe.— None of these birds were 

 seen alive, but there are records of three found dead upon the ice. All 

 three specimens had been greatly damaged by crows and gulls. 



3. Podilsrmbus podiceps. Pied-billed Grebe. — A single dead 

 specimen was found frozen in the ice near the east shore, on the third day 

 after the freezing. 



1 Eifrig, C. W. G. Notes on Some Northern Birds. Auk, XXITT,.July. 1906. 

 pp. 314-315. 



