AMERICAN EARED GREBE. 733 



I ODcc noticed a singular fact connected with the power these birds 

 have, in common with other Grebes, of sinking quietly into the water. 

 By the respiratory process they are able to a ery materially reduce or 

 enlarge their bulk, with the conse([uence of displacing a varying bulk 

 of water, and so of changing their speeiiic gravity. Once holding a 

 wounded Grebe in my hand, I observed its whole body to swell with a 

 labored inspiration. As the air permeated the interior, a sort of ripple 

 or wave passed gradually along, puffing out the belly and raising the 

 plumage as it advanced. With tlie exjiiration, the reverse change oc- 

 eiured from the opposite direction, and the bird visibly shrunk in dimen- 

 sions, the skin fitting tightly and the feathers lying close. 



PODICEPS AUKITUS var. CALIFOENICUS, (Heerm.) Coues. 

 American Eared Grebe. 



a. auritus. 



Colymhis anrUits, Linn., Syst. Nat. 1766, 2^-2 (j)«r<i?ii).— Naum., Vog. Dentschl, ix, 1838, 



7(i8, pi. 24C.. 

 Fodiccpa aui-itus, Lath., lud. Oru. ii, 1790, 781.— Ticmm., Man. 1815, 4C9.— Boie, Isis, 



182->, 561.— STKrii., Geu. Zool. xiii, 1825, fi.— Keys. & BiJiS., Wirb. Eur. 18-lU, 



90._SoiiL., Rev. Crit. 105; M. P.-B. ix, 40.— Macgii.., Man. ii, 204.— Gi:av, 



Geu. of B. iii, 6o3 ; aud of European authors generally. 

 ri-aiiopiis auritus, Kavp, Sk. Ent. Eur. TlIier^v. 1829, 49. 

 Otodiitfs auritus, Rkicuekbach. 

 rodict-ps ot Coli/mbus iiif/riwllis, Sundevall. 



b. caVifovnious. 



Fodiccps auritus, NiiTT., Man. ii, 18:M, 250 ("will probalilv 1)0 fonnd in Nortli Amer- 

 ica ").— Aud., Oru. Biog. v, 1^39, 108, pi. 404 ; Syn. 1839, 358 ; B. Am. vii, 1844, ■ 

 322, pi. 4S2 (described "from species said to bo North American). — Bi>., List, 

 1838, 64.— Lawi!.,B. N. A. 1858, b97.— Maxim., J. f. 0. vii, 1859, 246 (description). 



Podiccps califoriiicus, HeeKiM., Pr. Phila. Acad. 1854, 179; P. R. R. Rep. x, 1859, 76, pi. 

 8 (y'ouugl.— Newb., p. R. R. Rep. vi, 1857. 110.— LA^^■H., B. N. A. 1858, 890.— 

 Coop. &"Suck„ N. H. Wash. Ter. 1860, 282.— Havd., Rep. 1862, 176.— Stev., 

 U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1870, 466 (North Platte).— Elliot, B. N. A. pi. 64.— Codes, 

 Ibis, 1866, 273.— SCL., P. Z. S. 1864, 179 (city of Mexico, in full plumage).— 

 DnEss, Ibis, 1866, 46 (Texas, winter).- Salv., Ibis, 1866, 200 (Guatemala). 



Podiceps (Proctopus) californicus, Cot'E.^, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1862, 231, 404. — Codes, ibid. 

 1866, 100 (Arizona). 



Podicips auritm var. catifoniicus. Codes, Key, 1872, 337. — Codes, Am.Nat. viii, 1874 (Da- 

 kota). — Hensiiaw, Am. Nat. viii, 1874, 243 (breeding). — RiDQW., Ann. Lye. N. 

 Y. X, 1874, 392 (Illinois).— Sn'o>\", Am. Nat. viii;, 1874, 757 (Kansas). 



Sab. — The typical form from Europe, Asia, and Africa. Var. californicus from West- 

 ern North America, from Groat Slave Lake to Guatemala. East to Texas, Dakota 

 (^Coucs, Am. Nat. vii, 1873, 745), Kansas (iSnow), and Illinois (Eidgway). Breeds 

 appaix>ntty throughout its range. 



Lieutenant Warren's Expedition. — 5476, Fort Berthold; 5477, Snake River. 

 Later i'.rjjtrfi/ioiis.— 60863, North Platte. 



Jdult, breeding plumage.— 'Bill shorter than head, rather stout at base, innch depressed, 

 broader than high at the nostrils, tip acute, not decurved, gonys straight, ascending, 

 culmen a little concave basally, iiearly straight terminally. Tarsus about equal to 

 middle toe without its claw. ISill entirely black. Conspicuous, long auricular tufts, 

 golden-brown or tawny, flnel.v displayed upon a black ground. Crown, chin, and neck 

 all round, black. All the primaries entirely chocolate-brown, with usually a wash of 

 dull reddish-brown exterually. Secondaries white, but the bases of all, aud a consid- 

 erable part of the two outer ones, dusky ; their shafts mostly all dusky. Sides deep 

 purplish-brown or wine-red ; this color washed across the breast, behind the black of tho 

 neck, and also across the anal region. Under parts silky-white, the abdomen grayish. 



Young — Bill shaped generally as in the adult, but smaller, with less tirm outlines, 

 BO thiit its distinctive shape is somewhat obscured. Little or no trace of the auricular 

 tufts. Crown, sides of head, aud neck all around, «ooty-grayish, paler and more ashy 

 on the foreucck. Upper parts rather lighter aud duller colored than in the adults. 



