PODICIPID.E— THE GREBES. 259 



This o-enuH includes several sub^'enera (more or less distinct), 

 of which the t'ollo\vin<j,- are represented in North America: 



A. Bill about as lonj,' as (he head; size large (wiiijj more than (i.(M) inches). 

 1 . Colymbus. 



B. -Bill ilecidudly shorter than hea 1; size smaller (wing less than (!.(>!' inches). 



-. Dytes. Size medium (wing more than .). 00 inches); nuptial plumage with consplca- 



ous head-tufts or ruffs, as in (Jolijnihus. 

 [3. Podiceps. Size smaiUwing less than 5.00); nuptial plumage without hoad-tufts or 



rulTs. (Not represented in tlic Illinois fauna.)] 



Subgenus COLYMBUS Linnjsus. 



Colymlua Linn. S. N. ed. 10, i, 1758, 135. Type, by elimination, C. cristatus Linn. 



SuBGEN. Char. Neck much shoiter than the body; bill about eaual to the head,'stout 

 (length of the culmen about three and a half times the depth through the base), the tip blunt, 

 and the outlines more or less convex; tarsus shorter than middle toe with claw. Breeding 

 plumage ornamented by colored tufts or patches about the head, the winter plumage and 

 the young very different. 



Only one species of this subgenus belongs to North America, 

 the occurrence of C. eristati'.<t — which for half a century or more 

 has been included in most works on North American orni- 

 thology, and generally considered a common bird of this coun- 

 try — being so very doubtful that there is not a single reliable 

 record of its having been taken on this continent. For conven- 

 ience of identification, however, in case it should be found in 

 America, its characters are given below. 



1, C. holboellii. Feathers of lower parts white only superficially, the ba~es of the feathers 

 being grayish, this often partly exposed and showing as a more or less distinct spotting. 

 Nuptial ptumage with top of head black, rest of head ash-gray, bordered above and be- 

 hind by whitish, the neck rusty. 



2. C. cristatus. Feathers of the lower parts pure white to the extreme base. Nuptial plum- 

 age with top of head and elongated tufts on each side of occiput glossy black; chin and 

 throat buffy white, this passing behind into bright ru.sty on a very prominent auricu- 

 lar frill, which is tipped with black. Hab. Nearly cosmopolitan, but no reliable North 

 American record. 



Colymbus holboellii (Reinh.) 



HOLB(ELL'S GEEBE. 

 Popular synonyms. American Red-necked Grebe; Cooper's Grebe. 



Podiceps ruhricollis "Lath."Bonap. Synop lS2s, J17.— Sw. Rich. F. B.-A. ii, 1831, 411. —Nutt. 



Man. ii,'18:34, 253.— Aud. Orn. Biog. iii, 1835, 617, pi. 298; Synop. 18^9, 357; B. Am. vii, 



1844, 312, pi. 480. 

 Podi^^eps rubricollis major Temm. & Schleg. Faun. Jap. 1819. pi. 78 b (not Columbus 



major BoDD. 1783). 

 Podiceps 7(.o/fiCB»ii Reinh. Vid. Meddel. 1&53, 76; Ibis. 1861, 14 (Greenland).— CouES.Proo. 



Aead. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1862, 251.— Rroow. Nom. Am. B. 1881, No. 731. 



