6 NOTES ON THE 
and have many reports of its presence in several others. As 
long since noticed by bird observers, the young of the Red- 
necked and Crested Grebes resemble each other so much as to 
make their differences impossible to define. 
° 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
Upper plumage blackish-brown, the upper part of the head 
and neck behind, black; primaries ashy-brown; secondaries 
mostly white, except a few of the inner ones which are dark 
ash; cheeks and throat ash gray; a white line from the lower 
mandible under and beyend the eye; forepart and sides of neck 
rich, brownish red; lower parts silvery white, sides dusky; bill 
black, pale at the end, and bright yellow at the base; iris car- 
mine; tarsi and feet externally greenish black, internally yel- 
low. 
Length, 18; wing, 7; bill, 1.25; tarsus, 2. 
Habitat, North America at large. 
Note. Since writing the above I have learned more of the 
local habits of this Grebe and can add that its food is mostly 
aquatic worms and larve with some minnows. It is no 
trivial thing to bag one of them on account of his unremitting 
vigilance, and his expertness in diving and remaining seem- 
ingly a long time submerged, which however is not so long as 
it seems, for when he returns to the surface he only exposes 
the bill and enough of the head to bring his eyes into use while 
the body is kept completely concealed. The power to do this 
continuously for a considerable time, belongs to the entire 
family, and to few if any others so perfectly. In this sub- 
merged condition they will swim so gently and soevenly as to 
elude the observation of most persons until they have learned 
to detect them, after which there is little difficulty. 
COLYMBUS AURITUS L. (3.) 
HORNED GREBE. 
Although not universally distributed throughout the state, 
the Horned Grebes are fairly common in many sections. Pools, 
ponds and sloughs in open districts and bottom lands are its 
favorite localities for breeding. Hence, I am not surprised to 
have Dr. Hvoslef report it as breeding in the vicinity of Lanes- 
boro, Fillmore county, along our southern borders, and would 
have expected Mr. Washburn to do so along the Red River, as 
Dr. Coues* had done several years earlier. Indeed I have 
had individuals sent to me by hunters from a dozen or more 
localities, most of which have been in prairie regions to the 
north and west of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It breeds occa- 
sionally in the vicinity of Waseca * * and at Bigstone Lake. 
