other, move on increasingly to the shore ! 

 In quick succession they gHde softly 

 under the water and remain for some 

 time, no doubt taking their food of small 

 fishes and aquatic grasses. Nothing can 

 exceed the ease and gracefulness with 

 which they dive, so tipping under the 

 water as barely to ruffle the mirror-like 

 surface. Presently they reappear, one 

 after another, shaking their heads, and 

 looking this way and that, as if to make 

 sure of their safety, but still swimming 

 well out of the water. Gliding along 

 much more rapidly than ducks, they de- 

 scribe their elegant curves for a few sec- 

 onds, and then disappear again. What a 

 happy family they are!" 



Dr. Robert Ridgway says that environ- 

 ment far more than latitude is the con- 

 trolling factor in the breeding hab'its of 

 the Pied-billed Grebes. The tall reeds 

 and sedges which grow in the shallower 

 water at the margins of lakes, ponds and 

 rivers are the favorite nesting localities 

 of these birds. The nests are usually 

 placed in small areas of open water where 

 they are anchored to the adjacent flags 

 or other marsh plants. They are "curi- 

 osities of bird architecture," and are 

 sometimes floating masses of decaying 

 vegetation. At other times, especially in 

 shallow w^ater, they may be built up from 

 the bottom. In all cases, the materials 

 used are reeds, rushes, grasses or other 

 water vegetation which is mixed with 

 mud and debris brought from the bottom 

 of the body of the water in wdiicli the 

 nests are located. It is fastened to neigh- 

 boring aquatic plants so that it may not 

 be moved too far by winds or currents. 

 In his "Summer Birds of a Northern 

 Ohio Marsh," Dr. Frank W. Langdon 

 gives the following excellent description 

 of the nests of this species. He says : 

 "The little floating island of decaying 

 vegetation held together by mud and 

 moss, which constitutes the nest of this 

 species, is a veritable ornithological curi- 

 osity. Imagine a 'pancake' of what ap- 

 pears to be mud, measuring twelve or 

 fifteen inches in diameter, and rising two 



or three inches above the water, which 

 may be from one to two feet in depth; 

 anchor it to the bottom with a few con- 

 cealed blades of *saw-grass,' in a little 

 open bay, leaving its circumference en- 

 tirely free ; remove a mass of wet muck 

 from its rounded top, and you expose 

 seven or eight soiled brownish-white 

 eggs, resting in a depression the bottom 

 of which is less than an inch from the 

 water; the whole mass is constantly 

 damp. 



"The anchoring blades of coarse saw- 

 grass or flags, being always longer than 

 is necessary to reach the bottom, permit 

 of considerable lateral and vertical move- 

 ment of the nest, and so effectually pro- 

 vide against drowning of the eggs by 

 any ordinary rise of the water level." 

 The eggs are incubated by the sitting 

 bird during the night and through a por- 

 tion of the day. When the bird leaves 

 the nest she may or may not cover the 

 eggs. This she seems to do in regions 

 where she has reason to fear danger. 

 Some observers believe that the Grebes 

 brood their eggs only at night leaving 

 them during the day to be incubated by 

 the heat rays of the sun and the heat 

 generated by the decaying mass of muck 

 placed over them. iBe this as it may, 

 the mother is a watchful bird and guards 

 her eggs and young. The little Grebes 

 begin their swimming lessons almost as 

 soon as they are hatched, and in a very 

 short time they are fully as expert as 

 their m.others. An interesting character- 

 istic of the adults which is soon learned 

 and practiced by the young, is that of set- 

 tling backwards into the water and grad- 

 ually disappearing without rippling the 

 surface of the water. They seem to real- 

 ize that their best protection lies in their 

 power of diving. The true sportsman 

 will not consider them game birds for 

 they are not edible. They are usually 

 fired upon by the hunter who enjoys test- 

 ins: his marksmanship by shooting at a 

 difficult mark, and it is not to be regretted 

 that he often fails in his design, for the 

 Grebes do no harm. 



161 



