the under-water movements of the birds could be watched, and 

 that he never saw one use its wings for propulsion, or even raise 

 them in under-water progression. Others have kept grebes 

 in tanks or in shallow water and have never seen the birds use 

 their wings at all. Mr. Walter B. Johnstone, Edge wood, 

 British Columbia, Mr. A. S. Peters, Lake Wilson, Minnesota, 

 and Mr. E. F. Pope, El Reno, Oklahoma, have had abundant 

 opportunity to study grebes under water, and note that they 

 never saw them make use of their wings in swimming. Mr. 

 Harry S. Swarth, Berkeley, California, writes that he has 

 watched the Western Grebe and the American Eared Grebe 

 feeding under water. The Eared Grebe was not using its 

 wings, and the Western Grebe apparently was not. Major 

 Allan Brooks, Okanagan Landing, British Columbia, says 

 grebes have been observed closely, and no sign of the wings 

 being used or even opened under water has been seen. Dr. 

 Arthur A. Allen, Ithaca, New York, has seen Horned Grebes 

 and also Pied-billed Grebes under w^ater propelled by feet 

 alone. Mr. Harry A. Cash, Providence, Rhode Island, says 

 that a captive Pied-billed Grebe that he kept in a tank did 

 not use its wings for swimming. Dr. John B. May, Cohasset, 

 Massachusetts, caught an injured Horned Grebe. It did not 

 use its wings under water when swimming in a bathtub. Mr. 

 Julian K. Potter, Camden, New Jersey, stood on a river bank 

 some 10 or 15 feet high looking down at a Holboeirs Grebe 

 chasing minnows in shallow water. No motion of the wings 

 was discernible. Mr. John Hooper Bowles, Tacoma, Wash- 

 ington, noted that Pied-billed Grebes under water used only 

 their feet. Mr. Chester S. Day, Brookline, Massachusetts, 

 who watched chicks of the Horned Grebe swimming and diving 

 at the Magdalen Islands, says that they kept their wings close 

 to the sides. My own experience corroborates these statements, 

 as I have seen the Horned Grebe and the Pied-billed Grebe 

 under water in tanks swimming with the wings held close to 

 the sides. 



At first glance, all this looks like conclusive evidence, but 

 unfortunately for the negative belief others have noted the use 

 of the wings in tanks, though rather rarely, and many have 

 observed the wings in use for free swimming under natural 

 conditions, either in the sea or in inland waters. 



