224 



Descriptive Zoology. 



is large and keeled to support the flying muscles. The 

 barbules have booklets which unite the barbs, forming a 

 firm vane. The Carinatae are divided into a number of 

 orders. 



The Diving Birds. The diving birds have webbed (or 

 lobed) feet and are expert in swimming and diving. The 

 wings are usually small or rudimentary. In many the tail 

 is rudimentary. Our local examples are the grebes and 



loons, though these are 

 little seen except by the 

 field naturalist, hunter, or 

 fisher. Their legs are set 

 far back in adaptation to 

 their main use, the result 

 being that they must stand 

 upright and can hardly 

 walk. The plumage is 

 thick and well oiled, to 

 fit them for diving. Water 

 does not penetrate be- 

 tween the feathers, so the 

 skin is not wet. The 

 grebes have lobed toes 

 and are about the size 



of our smallest ducks. They dive like a flash when 

 alarmed, but it is not true that they can dive between the 

 flash of a gun and the time that the shot can reach them. 

 The grebe is commonly called " hell-diver." The loon is 

 our largest diver. Its peculiar cry, sometimes resembling 

 a hysterical laugh, has given rise to the expression, " crazy 

 as a loon." The loon does not try to escape pursuers by 

 flight, but dives and swims long distances under water, so 

 that it is seldom shot. 



FIG. 131. PIED-BILLED GREBE OR 

 HELL-DIVER. 



From Eckstorm's The Bird Book, 



