PIED-BILLED GREBE 39 



DISTRIBUTION 



Breeding range. Mexico and Central America from Panama 

 north to the Rio Grande region of southern Texas. Occurs in the 

 cape region of Lower California and has been attributed (probably 

 erroneously) to the "Valley of the Colorado." Apparently resident 

 and breeding throughout its range. Eggs have recently been taken 

 in Bexar County, Texas (10 miles south of San Antonio). Replaced 

 by closely allied forms in South America and the Greater Antilles. 



Egg dates. Texas: 39 records, March 3 to September 6; 20 

 records, June 3 to August 5. 



Podilymbus podiceps (Linnaeus) 

 PIED-BILLED GREBE 



HABITS 



This widely distributed and well-known bird, the little "dabchick," 

 is practically resident, or nearly so, throughout the southern por- 

 tion of its range, though probably there is a general movement south- 

 ward in winter and the summer residents are therefore not the same 

 individuals that are seen in that region in winter. The dates given 

 below show that this grebe is an early migrant, pushing northward 

 soon after the ice has left our northern ponds and streams. Its 

 favorite haunts when migrating are small sheltered ponds and slug- 

 gish streams where it can paddle about in comfort and seek shelter, 

 when danger threatens, among the bushes, reeds or grasses which line 

 the shores or where it may hide under the protecting vegetation of 

 overhanging banks. In such situations it seems to vanish mysteri- 

 ously, skulking in some sheltered nook, with only its bill above water, 

 well deserving its common name of "water witch." 



Courtship. Audubon's (1840) spirited drawing of the "pied- 

 billed dabchick," as he calls it, shows this bird in the midst of active 

 courtship, which is a lively performance; the ardent suitor rushes 

 about in the most excited manner, splashing along over the surface 

 of the water or repeatedly diving below it and coming up again near 

 his intended mate and voicing his admiration in a variety of soft 

 cooing notes. 



Nesting. As soon as their love affairs are settled the grebes begin 

 to search for a suitable nesting site. This is generally well chosen 

 and the nest more successfully concealed than is the case with the 

 other grebes. The nature of the nesting site varies considerably in 

 different localities. 



Mr. William Brewster (1906) describes a former nesting site of 

 the pied-billed grebe in Massachusetts as follows: 



On June 13, 1891, Mr. Walter Faxon found a number of pied-billed grebes 

 breeding at Great Meadow. There can be little doubt that they had been 



