['72.'] BIRDS OF OREGON 



Western Grebe dressed in shining white and black plumage displaying 

 its silky white breast as it disports itself after the manner of its larger 

 and more imposing relatives. It is capable of strong, direct flight and is 

 a finished performer at swimming and diving. 



Although the breeding plumage of the Horned Grebe differs greatly 

 from that of the Eared Grebe, its winter plumage is very similar to that 

 of the young Eared Grebe. The shapes of the bills are the best distinguish- 

 ing characters. The bill of the Horned Grebe is compressed from side to 

 side and is distinctly higher than wide at the nostril, whereas the bill of 

 the Eared Grebe is the reverse of this, being flattened to such an extent 

 that it is wider at the nostril than it is high. 



Jewett (1914!)) published the first Oregon record for the species when 

 he listed six specimens taken at Netarts Bay between December 2.6 and 

 March 2.1. Willett (1919) listed May and June birds at Malheur Lake, 

 the only eastern Oregon record known to us. Perhaps they were strag- 

 glers, as so good an observer as Willett could scarcely have confused these 

 birds, so remarkably different at that season, with another species. We 

 have coastal records from Curry, Coos, Lincoln, Tillamook, and Clatsop 

 Counties, and Jewett has a skin (Coll. No. 1689) seized by game warden 

 Ed Clark on November 9, 1913, at Portland, Multnomah County. Our 

 earliest date of arrival in fall is September 15; our latest spring record, 

 May 5. 



Food of the Horned Grebe in Oregon consists of water insects, shrimps, 

 small crustaceans, small fish, and remains of land insects that presumably 

 have fallen into the water and have been picked from the surface. The 

 species also has the usual grebe appetite for its own feathers. The purpose 

 or meaning of this feather-eating habit is yet to be satisfactorily ex- 

 plained. 



Eared Grebe: 



Colymbus nigricollis californicus (Heermann) 



DESCRIPTION. "Breeding plumage: A fan-shaped tuft of tawny silky feathers on each 

 side of head; rest of head, neck, and chest black; back blackish; sides brown; breast 

 silvery white. Winter plumage and young: Upper parts and sides dusky; throat and ear 

 patch white or grayish; bill slender, wider than deep at base; crests wanting." 

 (Bailey) "Downy young: The downy young is glossy black on the back with a few 

 brownish or grayish longitudinal stripes anteriorly; the head is dusky, more or less 

 striped or spotted with whitish; the under parts are white, becoming dusky on the 

 sides and tinged with pinkish buff on the breast and throat." (Bent) Sift: "Length 

 I2.-I4, wing 5.30, bill i." (Bailey) Nest: A floating platform of green vegetation 

 and rotting debris, with the eggs sometimes partially covered with water; compared 

 to other grebe nests, very flimsy and unsubstantial. Eggs: 3 to 9, usually 4 or 5, the 

 larger sets being possibly the work of more than one bird; bluish or greenish white, 

 soon becoming permanently nest-stained with browns and buffs, indistinguishable 

 from eggs of the other small grebes (Plate 9, A). 



