94 



THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



TWO GREBES. 



BY JOHN A. BRYANT, KANSAS CITY, MO. 



Before me are two mounted speci- 

 mens of grebes, Colymbus NigricoUis 

 Californlcus and Podllymbus podiceps. 

 The first was killed in Southern Cali- 

 -fornia, the latter in Jackson Co., Mo. 

 When I secured this last bird I found it 

 in a shallow pond about one hundred 

 yards in circumference, the bank of 

 which was str«wn with parts of craw- 

 fish it had been eating. I fired five 

 shots at this bird while it was swim- 

 ming in the pond but it dived and es- 

 caped each shot. I then waded into the 

 centre of the water, it dived at my ap- 

 proach and cariie up within about twenty 

 feet of me. I could plainly seethe white 

 ring around its eye. I got two deliber- 

 ate shots at this short distance. The 

 bird avoided them as before, and as it 

 dived under the clear and transparent 

 water to pass me, I could see the bird 

 using its wings as though it was flying, 

 propelling itself rapidly underneath. 

 Finally I forced it to take wing and 

 easily secured it. In comparing it with 

 the California bird, it was quite homely. 

 Both birds, however, had that satiny 

 texture on the under parts with dark- 

 green lobate feet and that curious toe- 

 nail instead of claw on the middle toe. 

 The Califoi'nia, or eared grebe has the 

 upper parts dark chocolate with a shad- 

 ing into a reddish brown on the sides 

 and a beautiful black silky crest on the 

 forehead with a golden hair-like tuft of 

 feathers on side of head arising from 

 the circumorbital region and extending 

 over the auriculars and there shading 

 into a golden brown coveri7ig partly the 

 black velvet-like feathers on the side of 

 head which also extended down over 

 the neck. This species has an extraor- 

 dinary way of sinking back quietly tail 

 foremost under the water. This I have 

 seen them do, time and again as I I 

 quietly watch them unseen, they would 



dissapear at the least alarm and on 

 account of their expert diving and wari- 

 ness they are seldom bagged. 



WINTER NOTES. 



BY MRS. S. E. ROESSLER, NEW HAVEN, CONN. 



Leafless are most of our trees. Etched 

 against the blue sky, one sees a net 

 work of boughs. Clumps of birches, in 

 a ghost-like whiteness, contrast with 

 the cedar and pine, while tangles of 

 witch hazel and tag alder fringe the 

 lanes. Nooks that were hidden by the 

 summer's leafage, surprise us, lined by 

 drooping ferns, each frond of which is a 

 microscopic wonder. The sumac ber- 

 ries and the hips of the dog rose give a 

 dash of color to the hedges. The gi'ay 

 strands of the lichens, the mosses, and 

 here and there the coral pine, with the 

 whole sisterhood of evergreens makes 

 the woods cheery. There is a winter 

 botany to the observing student, as he 

 seeks to penetrate the hidden mysteries 

 of seed preservation. 



As we thread our way through the 

 wild-wood, we notice that many of the 

 monarch oaks, respond to the wind 

 with a rustle. By observation, we find 

 the oak seejns about the last to shed its 

 foliage— and it stands clothed in a rus- 

 set mantle. The Druids are said to have 

 held their feasts under the oaks; now, 

 perhaps the leaves are still whispering 

 secrets of their ancient friends. 



Last autumn, I went out of doors day 

 by day to find the very last blooms. A 

 species of blue aster, thrived by a brook, 

 until long after frost ; but the very last 

 flower gathered, was white yarrow, 

 {Achilles millefoliu.n). This is a tough 

 plant, appropriately named after the 

 Greek warrior Achilles. 



Nature never wears a mean appear- 

 ance, neither does the wisest man ex- 

 tort all her secrets, and lose his curiosity 

 by finding out her perfection. — Emer.^on. 



wiB 



mr. 





