iil 



436 



THE DIVING BIRDS — PYGOPODES. 



Ll ii 



till' SL'Mmdiiiit's, t'xci'iit till- tlirw iniioriuost, are entirely jmre white, anti their slialts are white 

 ti) the very Inisi'. The three iimenuost liiive a dusky ^^}lot iieai th.e end of the outer web. These 

 dillVreiiees, so far as we eau discover, are entirely eonstant ; and if so, tjuite suHieient to separate 

 tile two."' 



Sime the writing,' of Dr. CVnies's admirable synopsis of the GivK's, the nuinl)er of speeiniens of 

 these l)irds, and especially of the American Eaivd Grebe, in the collection of the National Museum 

 has very greatly increjised, so that we have now prolxd)ly more than double tin; amount of material 

 which came under Dr. Coues's inspection. We liave examined tliis material very carefully, and 

 liud in the American series but the one specimen mentioned above which does not conlirm the 

 dilfeieiice pointed out. T'je specimen in tiue.nion (No. 74401, Stockton, Cal., May 9 : L. l?Ei.- 

 Dixii) has ((/; the primaries white, except tiiiir terminal portion, less than half of the exposed por- 

 tion of the ipiills being brown ! Allhouyh in every other respect the coloration of this e.xample 

 is entirely normal, the amount of white on the ipiills is so very unusual, even for a European 

 specimen, that there is much probability of its bciiij; an indication of jiartial albinism. 



On the other hand, an adult male, in biveding-plumage, from Europe (not seen by Dr. Cones), 

 has the outer web of all but tuv of the inner ipiills entirely brown, except the extreme lip of the 

 seventh, eighth, and ninth cpiills, the tenth and eleventh • havinj: much brown near the end of the 

 outer web, while the tenth has a brown spot near the end of the inner web also. It is therefore 

 evident that tlie anniunt of white on the inner (piills varies to some extent in the European bird ; 

 but we have yet to see a specimen in which there is not more or less of white on the inner webs 

 of all the quills, with the outer webs of two or more of the inner (piills v, hite also. The ditlVr- 

 ence in the form and size of the bill, and tlie darker color of the young, of the Euro])ean bird, is 

 a|)parently constant, so that, I'pon the wiiole, we can lianlly do otherwise than separate the birds 

 of the two continents as toleribly well-detined races. 



Both American and EuroiKjan specimens vary consideriibly in the tiuantity of rufous along the 

 sides, some examples having the entire sides and Hanks a nearly continuous chestnut-rufous, while 

 others have only a slight tinge of this color ; a nearly e<iual .idmixtuiv of rufous and du.sky is, 

 however, moiv usual. There is also nuich variation in the brightness of the elongatinl feathers on 

 the sides of the head, some having these tufts a nearly uniform dull bulf or ochraceous, while in 

 others they are rich rusty rufous, those along the upper border being bright ochraci'ous, in marked 

 contrast. This latter condition, or a brighter jdumage generally, seems more common among 

 European specimens, and may pn)ve characti'ristic of that form. 



A very tine adult in summer plumage, from Northern Europe, in the collection of the Bostoti 

 Society of Natural lli.story (No. 81(54, Lafresnaye Collection), is remarkable for the great amount 

 of rufous on the lesser wing-coverts, where this color prevails anteriorly ; the iniiMle, and even 

 the greater, coverts being spotted with this color. The sides and Hanks are almost continuously 

 rich chestnut-rufiuis. We have not been able to detect a tritce of rufous on the lesser wing-coveits 

 in any other of the numerous specimens examined, either European or North American. Tlie five 

 inner primarii's all have the inner webs white, except at the tip ; but there is not a trace of white 

 on the outer webs, exce|it of the last two. 



Tho Ciiliforiiiaii (Jicbo is a form vciy clo.soly alliinl with J>i/t('s ii'njricdU'its of the 

 Paliviirctic Kogioii ; ami it was probably om' of this lattiT sj^'cii's wliii'h was tigiirod 

 ami (loscribed by Amlubou as I'niVu'i'pg nuritua, ami saiil to liavi; bocii rm'ivod from 

 Wt'sttMii AiiuM'iea. Tlio ))rpsoiit form ai)iH'ars to havo an aivaof distribtitioii boiimlcd. 

 apinoximatoly, by tlm ]\Iissoiiri Kivcr JJcfjioii on the oast, ami oxtemliii{jr westward [o 

 tin' racitic, and northward to an indofiniti' I'xtont. 



Dr. HotM'maiin inoiitions tindiii}^ this (Jivbo abundant in California, both on tin- 

 sea-short' and on the itdaml fri'sh-water j)oiuls ; Dr. I'alnior mot with it in tho noigh- 

 boiliood of Gnayamas, in Wostorn Moxico ; and Mr. Salvin mentions finding it com- 

 mon on tho Lako of Duoilas, in (Jnatomala. whoro it was in its immatuiv ami winter 

 jilumago. A singlo sjiocimon in its siiiumor dross was shot near Cubalco, in the 

 (Juatomala province of Vera I'az. 



* The Orobos have eleven primary tiuills ! 



