NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



2. Holboell Grebe. C.ilymbus holboellii. 



1 



[White, stained buff.] 



stained surface common to Grebes eggs 



Range. Throughout North Amer- 

 ica, breeding from northern United 

 States northward and wintering 

 from the middle to the southern 

 portions of the United States. 



In regard to size this Grebe comes 

 next to the Western, being 19 in. in 

 length. This bird can be distinguish- 

 ed by the white cheeks and throat 

 and the reddish brown foreneck. 

 They breed abundantly in the far 

 north placing their floating islands 

 of decayed vegetation in the water 

 in the midst of the marsh grass. 

 They lay from three to six eggs of 

 a dingy white color which have the 

 Size 2.35 x 1.25. Data. Northern 



Manitoba, Can., June 15, 1898. 5 eggs laid on a rank mass of decayed rushes 

 floating in two feet of water in a slough. Collector, E. A. Hartshorn. 

 3. Horned Grebe. Colymbus auritus. 



Range. The whole of North America, 

 breeding in the interior from North Da- 

 kota northward; winters along the Gulf 

 Coast. This species is one ot the most 

 beautiful of the Grebes, having in the 

 breeding season buffy ear tufts, black 

 cheeks and throat, and chestnut neck, 

 breast and sides. They breed abundant- 

 ly in the marshy flats of North Dakota 

 and the interior of Canada. They build 

 a typical Grebe's nest, a floating mass 

 of decayed matter which stains the 

 naturally white eggs to a dirty brown. 

 The number of eggs varies from three to seven. Size 1.70 x 1.15. Data. Devils 

 Lake, N. Dakota, June 20,1900. 6 eggs much stained. Nest floating in 4 ft. of 

 water, a large mass of rotten rushes and weeds. Collector, James Smalley. 



[Buffy white, nest stained. J 



4. American Eared Grebe. 



ricollis calif or n icus. 



Co ly mbus nig- 



Range. North America west of the Miss- 

 issippi, breeding from Texas to Manitoba 

 and wintering along the Pacific Coast of the 

 United States and from Texas southward. 



Eared Grebes differ from the preceding in 

 having the entire neck blackish. They nest 

 very abundantly throughout the west, in 

 favorable localities, from Texas to Minne- 

 sota and Dakota. Their nests are construct- 

 ed in the same manner as the preceding 

 varieties and are located in similar localities. 

 As do all the Grebes when leaving the nest, they cover the eggs with the damp 

 rushes from around the base of the nest. This is probably for the purpose of 

 assisting incubation during their absence, by the action of the sun's rays on the 

 wet mass. As they are nearly always thus covered upon the approach of any- 

 one, this may be done also as a protection from discovery. They lay from three 



[Bluish white, stained.] 



