4 NESTS AND EGOS OF 



In most of the States and Territories west of the Mississippi River, this species 

 breeds mor§ or less abundantly in suitable localities, and its breeding range is al- 

 most as extensive as its habitat. It has been found nesting in the grassy lagoons of 

 Texas, in the fresh water ponds of California, the pools and sloughs of Eastern 

 Oregon, the alkali lakes of Colorado, Kansas, and the Territory of Wyoming, in the 

 little inlets ef the larger bodies of water in the Dakotas and in Minnesota, thence 

 northward to the inland waters of British America. This Grebe, in common with the 

 others, is justly noted for its expertness in diving and swimming, and, liKe all true 

 divers, is awkward on land. From the posterior position of the legs these birds stand 

 almost upright, so that they have more the air of a small kangaroo than of a bird. 

 Its general breeding habits, are like others of the family, nesting, however, in 

 more open situations, in flags and rushes, or upon a floating foundation in shallow 

 waten In the absence of the bird the eggs are covered with debris. The habit of 

 covering the eggs among the Grebes is either for the purpose of concealing them 

 from enemies, such as Hawks and Gulls, or that upon the artificial heat, produced 

 by the decayed vegetation, they are more or less dependent for the hatching of their 

 eggs. When thus covered, the birds are known to remain away from their nests 

 during the entire daytime. The eggs of this species are four to eij^t in number, 

 and in Minnesota, the Dakotas and Wyoming, they are deposited in the first part of 

 June. They are elongated in shape, bluish white In color, but soon become soiled 

 by the wet material of the nest. The measurement of eight eggs, collected in the 

 marshes of Red liake, Minnesota, on the 7th of June, are as follows: 1.79x1.21, 1.75x 

 1.20, 1.73x1.25, 1.70x1.15, 1.80x1.23, 1.79x1.25, 1.73x1.20, and 1.73x1.18. A set of four 

 eggs from North Dakota has a decidedly buff ground color instead of the usual bluish 

 white. 



5. ST. DOMINGO GREBE. Golymhus dominicus Linn. ■ Geog. Dist.— Texas 

 and Southern California, southward through Tropical America to Paraguay, includ- 

 ing the West Indies. 



Here is the smallest of our Grebes. It has a breeding range extending from 

 the Valley of the Rio Grande southward into the tropical regions, nesting in the wild 

 herbage of the lakes and ponds of Mexico and Central America, in many of the 

 islands of the West Indies, and the sloughs of the immense level, tropical plains and 

 pampas of South, America. Its entire life is spent in the water, and it possesses the 

 same aquatic habits peculiar to all the Grebes. Dr. James C. Merrill was the first 

 to establish the claim of this species as belonging to our North American fauna. He 

 found it a rather common resident in Southwestern Texas., On May 16, 1877, he 

 found several nests, undoubtedly belonging to this species, in a salt marsh a few' 

 miles from Fort Brown. "They were made of water plants and pieces of reeds 

 slightly fastened to one or two tule stalks, and forming a wet, floating mass. No 

 eggs were obtained."* The eggs are described as a "pale, 'ihalky, greenish white," 

 with the usual discolorations. They vary in size from 1.25 to l.BO long by .85 to 1.00 

 broad. , 



6. PIED-BILLED GREBE. Podilymbus podiceps (Ldnn.) Geog. Dist.— 

 British Provinces southward to Brazil, Buenos Ayres, and Chili, including the West 

 Indies and the Bermudas, breeding nearly throughout its range. 



* Notes on the Ornithology of Southern 'Texas, being a list of Birds observed In the 

 vicinity of Fort Brown, Texas, from February, 1876, to June, 1878. By James C. Merrill, 

 Assistant Surgeon U. S. Army. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 

 Vol. I, pp. U8~173. 



