46 BRITISH BIRDS. 



On the American continent west of the Mississippi, from Great Slave 

 Lake to Guatemala, a Black-necked Grebe is found which differs in many 

 respects from the Old-World species, and has been regarded as subspecifi- 

 cally distinct under the name of Podiceps nigricollis califurnicus *. It is 

 said to resemble the Sclavonian Grebe in not having the bill recurved and 

 in having no white on the primaries. 



In its habits the Black-necked Grebe scarcely differs from its allies. Its 

 call-note is described by Naumann as a high, soft, but far-sounding beeb, 

 which in the pairing-season is rapidly repeated and becomes a trill bidder, 

 vidder, vidder, vidder, &c. Its notes are principally uttered in the 

 evenings of hot days and in the warm nights of June and July. It is a 

 very shy bird, and is more often heard than seen ; it can only be made to 

 take wing with great difficulty, and seeks safety by diving. Naumann 

 says that it sometimes remains a minute under water, reappearing at a 

 distance of 150 yards from the place where it plunged beneath the surface. 



During the breeding-season it is only found on fresh water, on lakes or 

 slow-flowing rivers where reeds and sedge abound. It arrives at its 

 breeding-grounds in North Germany as soon as the hard frosts are gone, 

 towards the end of March or in the beginning of April, remaining until it 

 is driven away by ice and snow in October or November. The nest is 

 concealed amongst reeds or sedge, and is generally a floating structure, 

 like those of the allied species of Grebe ; but it is occasionally placed on a 

 tussock of grass or on fallen sedge. It is a small compact structure, not 

 more than 9 inches across, and is composed of dead sedge mixed with grass 

 and water-plants. When the nest is left the eggs are carefully covered 

 with wet moss and rotten grass. The eggs are laid late in May ; both 

 parents assist in incubation, which lasts three weeks, and the young are 

 able to fly by the end of July. The number of eggs is usually four, but 

 five are sometimes found. Like those of other Grebes, they are creamy 

 white in colour, but when held up to the light the green colour of the 

 inside may be seen through the hole, and is sometimes traceable on the 

 surface. They are considerably tapered at both ends, rough and irregular 

 in texture, and vary in length from 1*9 to T7 inch, and in breadth from 



P. auritus. It is the former which is said to breed in Turkestan. Dresser and Saunders 

 identify this with the Sclavonian Grebe ; but Severtzow most probably followed the 

 nomenclature of Pallas, whose Colymbus auritus is unquestionably the Sclavonian Grebe. 



* The synonymy of the American form is as follows : 



Podiceps californicus, Heerm. Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1854, p. 179. 



Podiceps (Proctopus) californicus, Coues, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1862, pp. 231, 



404. 



Podiceps auritus, var. californicus, Coues, Key N.-Amer. E.p. 337 (1872). 

 Dytes nigricollis californicus, Ridgway, Nom. N.-Amer. B. no. 733 a (1881). 

 Podiceps auritus californicus, Coues, 2nd Check-List, no. 850 (1882). 



