THE GREBES 2313 



THE GREEKS 

 Family PODICIPEDID^ 



Best known by the little dabchick of the English meres and rivers, the family of 

 the grebes is distinguished from that of the divers by the toes being lobated instead 

 of webbed, and furnished with broad, flat nails, rounded at the tips; by the presence 

 of twelve primary quills in the wing; by the rudimentary condition of the tail; and 

 by the number of vertebrae in the neck varying from seventeen to twenty-one. In 

 all of them a bare stripe extends across the lores from the beak to the eye; the beak, 

 although very variable in form, is always much elongated, and the nostrils are never 

 protected by an overhanging lobe. The wings are short and concave, and when 

 closed have the primaries concealed by the secondaries; while in the aborted tail a 

 tuft of downy, soft feathers takes the place of the usual stiff rectrices. On the 

 lower surface of the body, the plumage, which is usually of a pure white hue, is 

 remarkable for its soft silky texture and brilliant lustre. 



The grebes are more addicted to fresh water than any other members of the 

 order, some of them being inhabitants of lakes and rivers throughout the year, 

 while others are oceanic during a large portion of their existence. They are repre- 

 sented by some sixteen species, ranging over the temperate and subtropical regions 

 of both Hemispheres; five of these being European, and two out of the latter breed- 

 ing in the British Islands, while the other three are but winter visitants thereto. 

 The eggs differ from those of the divers in the creamy-white color of their shells, 

 and their green tinge when viewed by transmitted light, the usual number in a 

 clutch being either three or four. 



Using the term Podicipes in a wide sense, it will include a greater 

 Grebes number of species of the group, or all those in which the length of 

 the slender beak varies from two and one-half to six times its basal 

 depth. Among the larger members of the genus, the western grebe (Podicipes occi- 

 dentalis} is the sole representative of a group characterized by the great length of 

 the neck and beak, and the smooth head, which is devoid of tufts at all seasons of 

 the year, while there is no seasonal difference in the general plumage; this species 

 being exclusively North American. The great crested grebe (P. cristatus), which 

 is the largest member of the genus, and attains a length of from twenty-one to 

 twenty-two inches, belongs, on the other hand, to a section in which the neck and 

 beak are shorter, and the head of the adult is ornamented in the breeding season at 

 least, with colored ruffs, tufts, or patches; while the general plumage in the breed- 

 ing season, differs considerably from that of the adult in winter, and likewise from 

 that of the young. In this particular species the crest, although largest in sum- 

 mer, is borne throughout the year, but in others it disappears in winter completely. 

 In its summer plumage, this bird may be recognized by its chestnut colored ear 

 coverts, and the white front of the lower neck and breast, while in winter it has the 

 lores and stripe over the eye white. Confined to the Eastern Hemisphere, this 

 species is remarkable for the extent of its breeding area, which includes Britain and 



