HORNED GREBE 



3. Colymbus auritus. 14 inches. 



As is usual with grebes, summer brings a remark- 

 able change in the dress of these birds. The black, puffy 

 head is adorned with a pair of buffy white ear tufts 

 and the foreneck is a rich chestnut color. In winter, 

 they are plain gray and white but the secondaries are 

 always largely white, as they are in the two preceding 

 and the following species. The grebe diet consists al- 

 most wholly of small fish, which they are very expert 

 at pursuing and catching under water. One that 1 kept 

 in captivity in a large tank, for a few weeks, would 

 never miss catching the shiners, upon which he was fed, 

 at the first lightning-like dart of his slender neck. They 

 also eat quantities of shell fish, and I doubt if they will 

 refuse any kind of flesh, for they always have a keen 

 appetite. 



Nest. A slovenly built pile of vegetation floating in 

 the " sloughs " of western prairies. The 3 to 7 eggs are 

 usually stained brownish yellow (1.70x 1.15). 



Range. Breeds from Northern Illinois and So. Dakota 

 northward; winters from northern U. S. to the Gulf of 

 Mexico. 



