North American Birds Eggs. 



DIVING BIRDS. Order I. PYGOPODES. 



GREBES. Family PODICIPID/E. 



Grebes are birds having a ducklike body, but with pointed bills. Their feet, 

 too, are unlike those of the Ducks, each toe having its separate web, and 

 having a broad flat nail. Their wings are very small for the size of the body, 

 making it impossible for them to rise in flight from the land. They rise from 

 the water by running a few yards along the surface until they have secured 

 sufficient headway to allow them to launch themselves into the air. After 

 having risen from the water their flight is very swift and strong. On land they 

 are very awkward and can only progress by a series of awkward hops; they 

 generally lie flat on their breasts, but occasionally stand up, supporting them- 

 selves upon their whole tarsus. Grebes, together with the Loons, are the most 

 expert aquatic birds that we have, diving like a flash and swimming for an in- 

 credible distance under water. 



I. Western Grebe. sErhnwirtwrus occidental!*. 



Range. Western parts of North America, from southern Alaska southward; 

 east to Minnesota and south in winter to the southern parts of the United Stab's 

 and Mexico. Breeds from the Dakotas and northern California northward. 

 These are the largest of the Ameri- 

 can Grebes; owing to their unusu- 

 ally long necks, they are frequently 

 called "Swan Grebes". They are 

 very timid birds and conceal them- 

 selves in the rushes on the least 

 suspicion of danger. At times, to 

 escape observation, they will entire- 

 ly submerge their body, leaving 

 only their head and part of the long 

 neck visible above the water This 

 Grebe cannot be mistaken for any 

 other because of the long slender 

 neck and the long pointed bill, 

 which has a slight upward turn. 

 They nest abundantly in the marsh- 

 es of North Dakota and central Canada. Their nests are made of decayed 

 rushes, and are built over the water, being fastened to the rushes so that tin- 

 bottom of the nest rests in the water. The nesting season is at its height 

 during the latter part of May. They lay from three to five eggs, the ground 

 color of which is a pale blue: this color is, however, always concealed by a thin 

 chalky deposit, and this latter is frequently stained to a dirty white. Si. 

 xl.55. Data.-Sweetwater Lake, N. D., May 28, IS'.) 1 .). 4 eggs, Neat of decayed 

 blades of rushes in cane and rushes about ten rods from shore. \\ ater three 

 feet deep under the nest. Collector, Win. A. Bowman. 



[Chalky bluish white, stained huff.! 



