1920.] Cape Sail Jntiniiu, Hhlhos Ai/res. 87 



and crossed with a black band ; tlie feet vary from giey to 

 dark olive-grey, and grey mottled with black, or a slate- 

 colour, almost bluish grey. 



Young. Iris dark brown ; gape and nasal spot magenta ; 

 bill blackish, with a few white niaikings ; feet (Jark grey, 

 with white markings. 



Mr. Hudson does not seem to have made the personal 

 acquaintance of this rather sturdy-looking Grebe, and 

 evidently considers it a rarity in the Argentine Republic. 

 1 myself did not observe the species until after twelve years' 

 residence, when^ on 16 November^ 1884, I secured a pair 

 with their four young. I wus much struck at the time with 

 the loud clear call of the parents, to which the young 

 lesponded from amidst the rushes, with a similar but 

 weaker note. No less than foiirteen years passed again 

 before the species came under my observation, when, in 

 1898 and 1899, 1 secured various individuals, adult and 

 young. In 1902 and 1904 I was similarly fortunate. 

 Subsequently, until 191'3, I was often absent from the 

 locality, except for winter visits. In the last-named year I 

 took my first and only nest with eggs. The last entry in 

 my journal is dated 3 November, 1915, when, on the great 

 drainage-canal between Ajo and Santo Domingo, I noted no 

 less than ten individuals, all singly. 



It would appear that the Thick-billed Grebe is a summer 

 visitant, all my notes being entered betAveen the middle 

 of September and the first week in March ; also that it 

 favours exceptionally wet seasons. Generally shy in its 

 habits, it is to be found in the deeper and more secluded 

 rush-i)eds, and hence it is difficult to observe and secure. 

 Nevertheless 1 have known of a pair in quite open water in 

 company with the large gathering of Podiceps ainericanus 

 alluded to in my notes on that species. In a similar case, 

 when I surprised an individual in an open rushless channel, 

 it fii'st dived, then rose and Hew a hundred yards, and dived 

 again into the security of a laguna. Those I saw on the 

 canal, at the approach of my launch at once took shelter in 

 the dense bordering rush-coverts. Finally, there is an entry 



