[76] BIRDS OF OREGON 



and has been known as one of Oregon's common winter birds since 

 Newberry (1857) first recorded it from the mouth of the Columbia, where 

 it still winters in fair numbers. Goss (1889) reported two sets of eggs 

 taken by Bendire in Klamath County, May 2.8, 1883, and since then 

 numerous observers have recorded the species either from the three great 

 lake counties or from the coast. During the winter months, from mid- 

 September to early May, it is abundant on all the bays of the Oregon coast 

 and can frequently be seen displaying its silvery white breast beyond the 

 breakers in the open ocean. It is also found in winter, though less com- 

 monly, on the larger rivers and streams inland. Its earliest date of arrival 

 on the coast is September 14; latest date of departure, May 5. It spends 

 the summer months, from early May to late September, in the great tule 

 marshes and alkaline lakes of interior Oregon. Our earliest date for its 

 arrival on the nesting ground is March 19; latest date of departure, 

 November 15. Egg dates extend from May 10 to 2.3. 



Whether riding the Pacific breakers in midwinter or diving about in 

 the dense tule marshes of central Oregon during the nesting season, the 

 beautiful Western, or "Swan," Grebe is one of the most graceful of all 

 water birds. No Oregon bird is more specialized for living in the water. 

 It is so thoroughly at home in this, its natural element, that it swims with 

 scarcely a ripple, and so effortless is its dive that it appears to slide into 

 the water. Its flight is rapid and direct, the rather short wings driving 

 the long, slim, almost arrowlike body at surprising speed, once the bird 

 is successfully launched in the air. 



For many years plume hunters killed Western Grebes by the thousands 

 for their beautiful satiny white breasts, until they were practically ex- 

 terminated; but the better protection afforded them in recent years has 

 brought them back in greater numbers. The colony on Upper Klamath 

 is a thriving one. There, during June, it is possible to find hundreds of 

 the floating platforms that serve as nests. Placed usually in the thick tule 

 growth, they are kept by the dense vegetation from drifting about. 

 Crump Lake, in the Warner chain, also supports a fair population. The 

 drying up of Malheur Lake in recent years has scattered its once fine 

 colony. 



Very little is known about the food of this species. It has the curious 

 grebe habit of swallowing its own feathers, and nearly every stomach 

 examined contained a closely packed wad of feathers. A stomach from 

 Silver Lake contained only unidentified fish bones and grebe feathers. 

 Two stomachs from Netarts Bay contained small fish, fish eyes, remains 

 of a ground beetle, and water-plant seeds. This grebe has no economic 

 status, as the fish it eats are largely trash and scrap fish. It more than pays 

 for its keep in the pleasure its graceful actions and beautiful plumage 

 give to observers. 



