PODICKPS OCCIDENTALIS, WESTERN GEEBE. 727 



plumage in tliis family, lint sucb is apparently the case. Under tbeee circumstances 

 it is obviously proper to hold Sclilegel's determination in check. 



There are two well-marked forms of this species, quite easy to recognize in their 

 extreme manifestations, yet apparently not separable specifically. They may be dis- 

 tiuguished as follows: 



I'ar. OCCIDENTALIS : Large; length (extreme), about 29 inches; wing, about 8 ; bill 

 and tarsus, each about 3. I5ill equal to tarsus, straight, mostly dark olivaceous, 

 brighter yellowish at tip and along cutting edges. Under outline of bill straight from 

 base to the slight angle, gonys thence straight to tip. Lores ashy-gray. 



r<o'. CLAKKii : Small; length, about 22 inches; wing, about 7; bill, 2.25; tarsus, 

 2.75. Bill shorter than tarsus, slightly recurved, under outliue almost regularly con- 

 vex from base to tip, with barely appreciable angle. Lores pure white. 



PODIOEPS (^CHMOPHOEUS) OCCIDENTALIS, Lawr. 

 Western Grebe. 



a. oecidentalis. 



Podiceps ocoidentalis, Lawk., B. N. A. 1858, 894.— Coop. & Suck., N. H. Wash. Ter. 16C0, 



281, pi. 38.— COUES, Key, 1872. 336. 

 JEchmophorns occidevtalis, CouES, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1862, 229. — CouBS, Ibis, Apr. 1866, 



273 (Southern California). 



b. clarTiii. 



Podiceps clarkii, Lawr., B. N. A. 1858, 895. 



JEchmophorns darkii, CouES, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1862, 229 ; Hid. 404 (breeding plumage). 



Podiapf! oecidentalis var. clarkii, CouEs, Key, 1872, 336. 



Eab. — Both varieties occur together in the United States west of the Eocky 

 Mountains. 



Var. OCCIDENTALIS: Western Orebe. 



Adult. — Culmen and gonys dusky olivaceous, the bill becoming yellowish toward 

 the end and along the cutting edges. Iris orange-red with a j)inkish shade, surrounded 

 with a white ring. Hard parts of palate in life like the bill ; soft parts light purplish 

 or lavender. lusides of tarsi and soles black ; outsides of tarsi and top of foot dull 

 bluish-green, becoming yellowish in centre of the webs. Forehead and lores dark 

 silvery-ash. A short occipital crest and indications of cheek ruffs, but neither brightly 

 colored, agreeing with the plain dark and white colors of the parts. Top of head and 

 line down back of neck fuliginous blackish, fading on the back and upper parts gener- 

 ally iuto a lighter, rather brownish-black, the feathers of the back with grayish mo.rgins. 

 Primaries mostly deep chocolate-brown, basally white, their shafts whitish at base, 

 black terminally. Secondaries mostly white, but more or fewer of the outer webs, 

 wholly or in part, dark. Sides under the wings washed with a pale shade of the color 

 of the back. Lining of wings and whole under p.arts from the bill pure silky white. 



X»i)HeHsioHS.— Length, 24 to 29 inches ; wing, about 8 ; bill along culmen, tarsus, and 

 middle toe with claw, each, 3 ; gape of bill, 3.60 ; its height at nostril, 0.50. 



This is a remarkable Grebe, the largest of this country, and one re- 

 qniriiig comparison with no other for its determination. It was originally 

 described from the Pacific coast, along which it is found from Oregon 

 and Washington Territories to Southern California, or farther : while 

 latterly it has been found breeding in Nevada and Utah by Mr. Eidgway. 

 I observed it frequently on the California coast, at San Pedro, in Novem- 

 ber, where it was common on the waters of the harbor, with the Pacific 

 Diver, Cormorants, and numerous other water-fowl. It is a fine-looking 

 bird ou the water, has a trim and shapely aspect, like a clipper ship, 

 while its long sinuous neck is held in a graceful curve, or variously de- 

 flected to either side. A specimen which I opened had the stomach tilled 

 with a kind of aquatic grass. The birds were not very shy, and several 

 were readily procured, notwithstanding their great powers of diving. 



Among Dr. Kennerly's Mss. I find the following : "This species, and 



