A Grebe Colony 



BY GERARD A. ABBOTT 



LAST spring, while on a collecting trip in North Dakota, the writer 

 was encamped for a month on a narrow neck of land, surrounded 

 on three sides by a chain of lakes. This point was covered with a 

 small growth of timber, mostly poplars, and was an ideal spot for a camp. 

 A strip of wild rice from fifty to one hundred and fifty yards wide bordered 

 the lake at this place, and it is here that one of the largest Grebe colonies 

 in the Devil's Lake region is located. Fifteen hundred birds composed this 

 colony, two -thirds of which were Western Grebes, and the other five 

 hundred consisted chiefly of American Eared Grebes, although there was 

 an occasional Pied Grebe among them. 



May 15 Western Grebes commenced laying, and June 1 breeding was 

 at its height. Their nests were huge masses of decayed vegetation, float- 

 ing among the wild rice (which at this time was eight feet high). Three 

 to six, and occasionally seven and eight eggs were found in a nest. 



The little Eared Grebes were breeding on the border of the Western 

 Grebes' colony, and so numerous were they that it was impossible to enter 

 the colony without brushing against some of their nests and disturbing the 

 eggs. The Eared Grebes were about ten days later in laying, but their 

 period of incubation was evidently shorter, for young birds were hatched 

 equally as soon as those of the larger species. 



When we slowly made our way into the colony (for the canes were 

 very dense, and the water from two and one-half to four feet deep) the 

 birds splashed on all sides of us, and the sound produced, as the voices of 

 the Eared Grebes mingled with those of the larger species, was almost 

 deafening. The piercing cries of the Eared Grebe were soon drowned by 

 the shrill notes of their larger relatives, who kept up this clamor all night, 

 renewing it at daylight with increased vigor. 



Travelers crossing the country often hear strange sounds coming from 

 the lakes a mile or more distant. Listen! it is a multitude of voices, and 

 sounds not unlike the croaking of prairie frogs in some near-by marsh. 

 Those are the notes of the Western Grebe, and when heard, especially at 

 night, produce an effect unlike any other experienced by the ornithologist. 

 In such a colony more or less confusion always exists. When we 

 approached the nests of the Western Grebe the big birds would sometimes 

 allow us almost to touch them before making any effort to leave their nest. 

 When thus disturbed, Western Grebes usually take to the open water, 

 where they soon become scattered in all directions. 



Eared Grebes were seldom seen on their nests, but when disturbed 

 would remain in the vicinity of their eggs, constantly swimming by us in 

 groups of three or four, and sometimes diving almost under our feet, so 



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