44 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS 



large series of specimens in the United States National Museum 

 collection seems to indicate that the full adult plumage is acquired 

 during the first year. Many young birds retain the black and white 

 stripes on the head until late in October, though some have com- 

 pletely changed before that time into the brown plumage of the first 

 winter, in which the bright russet color of the neck, breast, and flanks 

 is conspicuous. The black throat of the adult and the black band 

 on the bill are acquired just prior to the breeding season. Some 

 adults show traces of the black throat in the fall or have it well 

 developed, but partially concealed by the whitish tips of the feathers. 



Food. The pied-billed grebe feeds largely on animal matter such 

 as small fish, snails, small frogs, tadpoles, aquatic worms, leeches and 

 water insects; it also eats the seeds and soft parts of aquatic plants 

 to some extent. Balls of its own feathers often occur in its stomach. 

 Although this grebe is more essentially a fresh water bird than the 

 other species, Audubon (1840) states that when its favorite ponds 

 and streams are frozen over, it may occasionally be seen in bays and 

 estuaries searching for shrimps and fry. 



Behavior. This species is less often seen in flight than the other 

 grebes, for it seems to prefer to escape by diving or skulking, but 

 it is well capable of rapid flight, when necessary, in spite of its small 

 wings. When rising from the water it runs along the surface for 

 a long distance, beating the water with its broad paddles until it can 

 rise into the air, when it flies swiftly away in a straight line, moving 

 its wings very quickly and with its neck and feet outstretched. When 

 migrating it often flies high in the air. It seems to be incapable of 

 rising from the ground and its movements on dry land are so awk- 

 ward that it spends very little time out of the water; although it 

 sometimes crawls out onto lily pads or marshy shores to sun itself 

 or preen its feathers. The water is its natural element, where it is 

 completely at home. I can remember distinctly how much ammuni- 

 tion I wasted in my old muzzle-loading gun, when I was a boy, in 

 vain attempts to bag the elusive "hell-diver," as we used to call it. 

 My attempts were seldom successful and I used to think that it dove 

 at the flash of the gun; with a modern gun and nitro powder the 

 results might have been different. Anything which even looked like 

 a duck was considered legitimate game in those days and the silky 

 grebes' breasts were proudly presented to my girl friends. The pied- 

 billed grebe is no less expert than others of its tribe in diving; ordi- 

 narily, in a hurried dive, it plunges forward and disappears like a 

 flash, swimming away for a long distance under water, to appear sud- 

 denly at some unexpected spot or perhaps to vanish and keep out of 

 sight; it also has the power so to contract its displacement that it 

 can swim along with only its head and neck above water, or it can 

 gradually sink down backward, like a disappearing frog, without 



