CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 7 



Big lake, 50 miles east of Calgary in 1906. There were many- 

 nests, perhaps 200. Breeding in colonies in sloughs in many parts 

 of the prairie region and British Columbia. Found breeding in 

 lakes at Kamloops, B.C., June i6th, 1889. On June 13th, 1894, 

 saw hundreds of nests in a marsh at the west end of a small lake 

 east of Cirane lake, Sask. The nests were composed of rushes 

 and mud, floating amongst the rushes in about two feet of water. 

 Most of the nests had three eggs in them, others four, and some 

 five, while many had one and two. Evidently the sets were, in 

 many cases, not complete. The outer margin of the pond was 

 chiefly sedge {Carex aristatd) but within was a growth of bullrushes 

 {Scirpus lacustris), and on the old stems of these, nests were made. 

 The floating nests were almost on a level with the water, and not 

 infrequently the eggs lay partly in the water. No down or feathers 

 was ever seen about the grebe's nest. Another colony was seen 

 on a small lake in July, 1895, o" the Milk River ridge, Alberta. 

 The nests were all floating and the eggs could be easily seen from 

 the shore, which was high. 



III. PODILYMBUS Lesson. 

 6. Pied-billed Grebe. Dab-cWck. Hell-diver. 



Podilymbus podiceps (Linn.) Lawr. 1858. 



Occasionally obtained in the autumn in Nova Scotia. {Downs.) 

 Uncommon fall migrant in Nova Scotia. {H. F. Tufts.) A com- 

 mon summer visitant in New Brunswick; breeds. {Chamberlain.) 

 Rather common in Quebec. {Dionne ; Hall!) Quite widely dis- 

 tributed in Ontario, but most common in the autumn. Breeding 

 from the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes to Hudson bay and 

 west to Great Slave lake. Abundant in all parts of Manitoba 

 and specially numerous in August and September on the head- 

 waters of Swan river and the surrounding lakes and marshes. 

 Although so common in the wooded portions of Manitoba it has 

 seldom been observed in the prairie region. One individual was 

 seen near the Dirt hills, Sask., in October, 1881, by Mr. W. 

 Spreadborough, and Dr. Coues saw it at Turtle mountain, Sask. 

 Lord, Fannin, Rhoads, Spreadborough and Brooks report it as com- 

 mon in British Columbia. Spreadborough reports seeing three in 

 Victoria harbour, B.C., in April, 1893. 1*^ 's evidently a forest 



