56 GREBES. 



ORDER PYGOPODES. DIVING BIRDS. 



Family Podicipid^. Grebes. 



The Grebes, or lobe-footed divers, number about thirty species, 

 distributed throughout the world. Six species are found in North 

 America. Grebes are eminently aquatic birds, and rarely if ever ven- 

 ture upon land, where they are almost helpless. The marvelous rapid- 

 ity with which Grebes dive, and the ease with which this power for- 

 merly enabled them to escape the shot of the fowler, have won for them 

 their various popular names of " Hell-diver," " Water-witch," etc. The 

 cartridges of the modern breech-loader do not give the warning of the 

 discarded flint-lock or percussion cap, and " to dive at the flash " is 

 an expression which now has lost half its meaning. Grebes possess the 

 power of swimming with only the tip of the bill above water, a habit 

 which accounts for many mysterious disappearances. They feed largely 

 on fish, which they pursue and catch under water, progressing by aid 

 of the feet alone. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



A. Depth of bill at nostril over -35. 



a. Wing over 6-00 2. Holbiell's Gkebe. 



b. Wing under 6-00 6. Pied-billed Geebe. 



£. Depth of bill at nostril less than -35 3. Hoened Grebe. 



2> Colymbus holboellii ( iJejftA.). Holbcell's Geebe. Ad. in sum- 

 mer. — Top of the head, small crest, and back of the neck, glossy black ; back 

 blackish ; throat and sides of the head silvery white ; front and sides of the 

 neck rufous, changing gradually over the breast into the silvery white belly ; 

 sides tinged with rufous. Ad. in winter. — Upper parts blackish brown: 

 throat and under parts whitish ; front and sides of the neck pale rufous. Im. 

 — Upper parts blackish; throat and under parts silvery white; neck and 

 sides grayish. L., 19-00 ; W., 7-50 ; Tar., 2-20 ; B., 1-90. 



Range. — Breeds in the interior of North America, from northern Minne- 

 sota northward; in winter migrates southward as far as South Carolina and 

 Nebraska. 



Washington, uncommon W. V., Sept. 30 to Moh. or Apl. Long Island 

 irregular W. V., Oct. to Apl. Sing Sing, rare T. V., Oct. to Deo. Cam- 

 bridge, casual. 



Nest., a mass of water-soaked, decaying vegetation floating among rushes 

 in a slough, generally attached to its surroundings. Eggs.^ two to five, dull 

 white, more or less soiled, 2'25 x 1-35. 



'• In common with others of the family, this Grebe is an expert 

 diver. Often it will sink into the water without any apparent eflEort, 

 though more generally it jumps forward, throwing the head into the 



