ZOOLOGY. 281 



PODICEPS OCCIDENTALS, Lawrence. 



The Western Grebe. 



Podiceps occidentalis, (LAWRENCE,) BAIRD & LAWRENCE, Gen. Rep. Birda,p. 894. 



Sp. CH Winter: Upper part of the head and nape fuliginous black; back and wing coverts grayish black, the feathers 

 margined with gray ; primaries light ashy brown, darker at the end and white at base ; secondaries white, marked with ash on 

 the outer webs; in some specimens the middle secondaries are pure white ; space between the bill and the eye gray ; throat, sides 

 of the neck, and entire under plumage silvery white ; sides marked with grayish black ; bill dusky, appearing nearly black in the 

 dried specimens, except on the cutting edges and at the end, where it is yellow ; iris orange red ; tarsi and feet blackish olive 

 externally, and internally greenish yellow. Length, 24 to 28 inches; extent, 34.50 to 36; wing, from 7.50 to 8.50; bill, 3; 

 tarsus, 3. Female smallest. A large individual in Dr. Suckley s collection had the tarsus 3.50 inches : bill from gape, 3.75. 



Hob. Pacific coast, from Washington Territory to California. 



This grebe I observed during winter on Shoal water bay, and in March at Puget Sound, but 

 have never seen one at any time between May and November, when they return southward. 

 While at anchor in the sound, one afternoon about sunset, large numbers of this and the preceding 

 species came near the boat, and I succeeded in killing four, three of which I obtained. At a little 

 distance the two species are difficult to distinguish, and also very hard to shoot, unless fired at 

 when they are looking another way. They were most active and numerous towards sunset, when 

 their loud bleating resounded everywhere around us. The P. californicus was abundant on the 

 sound at the same time. Both species are frequently washed up dead after storms. They all 

 fly strongly and rapidly, though rising from the water with difficulty. The much longer neck 

 of this species w r ill alone distinguish it from P. cristatus, which it so much resembles in coloring 

 and size. After skinning them I measured their necks, including all the cervical vertebrae, 

 and found the neck of this species to be 12^ inches long, four inches more than that of the 

 other. It is scarcely long and slender enough, as represented in the figure. C. 



The western grebe is a regular visitor at Puget Sound during the cold months, and is 

 usually quite a common winter resident on its bays and inlets. In the fall of 1856 I obtained 

 numerous specimens in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, finding them most abundant at the 

 mouths of the small rivers and creeks emptying into the sound. These latter they ascend at 

 flood-tide, swimming up to the fresh water, where they remain diving and fishing until the tide 

 having changed and the water falling, they retreat gradually back to the deeper waters of the 

 sound. They are generally found in couples, even late in the fall. At that season they are 

 without the elongated feathers of the head, characteristic of other species during the spring 

 and early summer. It is called by the Nisqually Indians swah-teese, and is said by them to 

 have formerly been an Indian man the elder brother of the Podiceps cornutits, a very dis 

 reputable character, and the wife of the great blue heron. 



A specimen killed near Fort Steilacoom, October 8, 1856, measured as follows : length, 24 

 inches; extent, 33; wing, 7.87; from angle of eye to tip of bill, 2.90; tarsi, externally dusky 

 olive, internally pale dusky greenish yellow ; iris, orange ; bill, dusky above ; pale on the sides 

 and tip. S. 



PODICEPS CORNUTUS, (Gm.)Lath. 



Tlie Horned Grebe. 



Colymbut cornutus, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 591. 



Podiceps eornutus, LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 783. Bow. Syn. 1828, No. 366. RICH. & Sve. F. B. A. II, 1831, 

 411. NCTT. Man. II, 1834, 254. ACD. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 429 : V, 1839, 623. IB. Birds 

 Am. VII, 1844, 316 ; pi. cccclxxxi. BAIRD & LAWRENCE, Gen. Rep. Birds, p. 895. 

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