iS Goss on the American Eared Grebe. [January 



NOTES ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE AMER- 

 ICAN EARED GREBE {DTTES NIGRICOLLIS 

 CALIFORNICUS) . 



BY N. S. GOSS. 



June 4. 1877' I had the pleasure of finding about one hundred 

 pairs of these birds nesting in a Httle cove of Como Lake — a 

 small alkali lake without outlet, in the Territory of Wyoming, on 

 the line of the Union Pacific Railway ; altitude 6680 feet. The 

 nests were in a narrow strip of rushes, growing in water eighteen 

 inches deep, and about one hundred and thirty feet from the 

 shore ; between the rushes and the shore was a heavy growth of 

 coarse, marsh grass, the whole covering not over from one to one 

 and one-half acres in area. The bank being a little higher than 

 the ground back of it, the approach could be made unobserved, 

 and my appearance, so unexpected and near, gave the birds no 

 time to cover their eggs, as is their wont, giving me a fine oppor- 

 tunity, on wading out, to see the eggs in their nests. I collected 

 the eggs from two nests, five in each : and counted from where I 

 stood over twenty nests, with from one to five eggs each. Quite 

 a number of others were completed, but without eggs, and still 

 others ^vere building. The floating nests were made of old broken 

 rushes, weeds, and debris from the bottom, and were partially 

 filled in and ai'ound the standing, growing rushes. There were 

 no feathers or other kind of lining. They w^ere from five to ten 

 inches in diameter ; the outer edge or rim was from two to three 

 inches above the water. The eggs in several touched the water, 

 and were more or less stained in their wet beds. The color of the 

 eggs when fresh was white, with a slight bluish shade. The 

 average measurements of tlie ten eggs was i.Si by 1.20 inches. 

 I watched the birds closely during the three days I remained there. 

 Those out upon the lake were noisv and active, keeping near the 

 centre and closely together. It was their courtship and mating 

 ground, but the birds in going to and from their nesting places 

 were silent and w^atchful. In leaving their nests they would dive 

 and come up quite a distance awav and swim rapidly for the flock 

 in the lake. I noticed at all times, not far from the breeding- 



