July, 1907 



THE GREBES OF SOUTHERN OREGON 



her back even if it is not visible, because she generally swims higher in the water. 

 As I was lying low in the reeds, another pair of grebes swam past. The 

 back of one bird was high out of the water. 

 She was carrying two young, but at the 

 time neither was visible. But soon one of 

 the youngsters got anxious to crawl out on 

 the hurricane deck, as it were. Each time 

 his head appeared, the mother would reach 

 back and cover him up. Finally one of the 

 little fellows crawled clear out in full view 

 and she let him sit there for a moment. But 

 I could see this was not the customary way 

 of riding, for she soon raised her wing and 

 covered him. Occasionally she picked up 

 bits of something from the surface and 

 reaching back, fed her babies. A little 

 later, while the father was swimming near 

 by, I saw one chick slip off the mother's 

 back and go paddling toward him. He 

 seemed to lower his body slightly in the 

 water and the youngster floated aboard. 



The old grebes dive and swim readily 

 under water with the young on their backs. 

 But occasionally when they are frightened, 

 they lose their chicks. Several times 

 while we were rowing about the I^ake, 

 we came unexpectedly upon old grebes 

 that were carrying young. At such times, 

 when the old birds are scared, it seems 

 very difficult for them to hold the chicks 

 in place when they dive. In most cases, 

 the young birds come to the top of the 

 water after the mother dives. When we 

 approached the little fellows they tried to 

 dive, but could not stay under long or go very deep, so they were easily caught. 



Po rtla n d, Or ego n . 



ADULT WESTERN GREBE 



NESTING HABITS OF PHAINOPKPI.A NITENS 



By HARRIET WIIvI^IAMS MYERS 



ON the evening of June ninth, 1906, 1 came upon a female Phainopepla engaged 

 in catching insects from the top of a tall sycamore tree that grew part 

 way up the bank of the Arroyo Seco at Garvanza. Her mate was equally 

 busy building a nest in a small, half dead sycamore tree not far away. The nest, 

 which was probably half finished, was placed about twelve feet from the ground in 

 an upright crotch formed by the main trunk and a small limb. It was in plain 



