PYGOPODES. 353 



The horned and the American eared grebe are a little 

 more restricted in their range, being more western and 

 less southern; the eared grebe coming no further south 

 than Texas, and from there into British America; while 

 the Horned Grebe comes no further south than along our 

 northern boundary, with occasionally a visitor wandering 

 down into northwestern Illinois. The western grebe, the 

 pied-bill, and the dab chick — smallest of our grebes — 

 spend the winter far to the south of their nesting grounds, 

 many of them wintering on Mexican waters, where they 

 enjoy much more freedom from their enemies than can 

 be found in the United States. 



These grebes, especially the western, which is the 

 largest of its tribe, are among the birds whose fatal endow- 

 ment is beauty, many of them being killed annually for the 

 beautiful silky plumage of the breast. Men who make 

 it their business to kill these birds, make swift, cruel 

 work of it. The body is not cold before the warm skin 

 with its silky feathers is stripped from the breast which 

 may have so lately covered a nestful of eggs or tender 

 young. 



Ever since man came among the animals of the earth, 

 he has been the greatest agent of slaughter of the whole 

 list. In his early days, he, of course, had to contend for 

 the mastery with animals much stronger than himself — 

 it was kill or be killed then, and no one of us could have 

 blamed him then. But in these days he has so far 

 forgotten his old bravery and honor of bearing himself 

 among his kind, as to pursue to the death only the animals 

 smaller and weaker than himself. The sportsman who 

 cracks away at wooden pigeons to test his skill is the 

 better man of the two. 



The nest of the grebes is simply a mass of decaying 



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