104 The Loons and Grebes 



are usually silent, and they have the singular habit, when not compelled to dive 

 quickly, of sinking down gradually and backward into the water until they 

 disappear entirely, not leaving" a ripple on the surface. They are also able to 

 swim for an indefinite time with only the bill out of water, and the seemingly 

 mysterious disappearance is often to be accounted for in this manner. 



Dabchicks. The Grebes are practically cosmopolitan in distribution. Of 

 the twenty-five or thirty forms recognized, North America lays claim to six, South 

 America to nine, Europe to five, etc. There is some difference of opinion as to 

 the number of genera that should be recognized, but according to recent author- 

 ity it is perhaps advisable to recognize seven, of which Podicipes with fifteen 

 species is the largest. Of these one of the best known is the Little Grebe, or Dab- 

 chick (P . fluviatilis] of central and southern Europe, whence it ranges westward 

 into central Asia and even reaches Japan. It is only about nine and one half 

 inches long and has the head, neck, and upper parts dark brown, the chin black, 

 the cheek, throat, and sides of the neck reddish chestnut, and the under parts 

 grayish white, while the bill is horn-color and the legs and feet dull green. It is 

 a common and well-known bird throughout the British Islands, frequenting in 

 summer the lakes and ponds, but in winter resorting to the rivers and larger 

 bodies of water, and in very severe weather to the seacoast. It begins to breed 

 toward the end of April or early in May, making the usual floating nest among 

 the reeds. "The Dabchick," says Mr. Hudson, "has the curious habit of hold- 

 ing its young under its wing and diving from the nest, to take them out of danger." 

 Two broods are frequently reared in a season, one bird caring for the numbers 

 of the first brood while the other parent is incubating the second set of eggs. 

 There are three or four species closely allied to the above, one of which (P. 

 philippinensis) ranges from southern China through Formosa and the Burmese 

 Provinces to the Philippine Islands and Borneo, another (P. capensis] from 

 tropical Africa and Madagascar to Persia and the Indian peninsula, while the 

 third (P. tricolor] is found from Borneo to Celebes and New Guinea. Still 

 another is a peculiar whitish species (P. albescens) of Native Sikhim, North 

 India, which is only seven and one half inches long. Other species are P. 

 pelzelni of Madagascar, P. nova-hollandm of Java, New Guinea, and Australia, 

 P. poliocephalus of Australia and Tasmania, and P. dominions, the St. Domingo 

 Grebe of tropical America in general, but ranging north to southern Texas and 

 southern California. This species is about nine inches long, dusky brown above, 

 with head and neck dark grayish or lead-colored, the throat and chin dull black 

 and the under parts white, while the bill is deep black, paler at the tip, the iris 

 orange, and the legs and feet blackish. It frequents fresh-water ponds and 

 lakelets as well as salt-water marshes. Another New Zealand species, also 

 known as the Dabchick or Totokipo (P. rufipectus), is blackish brown above, 

 finely streaked with white on the head, the throat brown, the breast rufous, and 

 the abdomen white. Like the other members of the group, it dives with amazing 

 agility; but according to Buller, it flies with difficulty, and only for a short dis- 

 tance, skimming the surface with a very labored flapping of its little wings. The 

 five remaining species of the genus are all South American. 



