20 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
ber 24. Central Alaska: Fairbanks, October 7%. Southeastern — 
Alaska: Silver Bay, September 21; Sitka, October. Yukon Terri- 
tory: Teslin Lake, September 28. British Columbia: Yellowhead 
Lake, August 28 to September 2; Sumas, October 12. California: 
Lake Tahoe, September 6. Aiherta: Athabaska Landing, Septem- 
ber 15; Edmonton, October 16. Maine: Umbagog, October 24. 
Ontario: Ottawa River, October 16 to November 25; Toronto, Octo- 
ber 21 to 31. Montana: Lubec, September 25 to 27; Gallatin County, 
October 17. 
Casual records—The type was taken in Greenland; where the 
species occurs casually. 
Egg dates—North Dakota and Minnesota: 93 records, May 23 to 
July 16; 12 records, May 31 to June 13. Manitoba: 17 records, May 
27 to August 1; 8 records, June 2 to 11. British Columbia and 
Washington: 9 records, May 13 to July 1; 5 records, May 29 to 
June 18. Alberta: 8 records, May 24 to June 21; 4 records, June 
38 to 17. 
COLYMBUS AURITUS (Linnaeus.) 
HORNED GREBE. 
HABITS. 
A long drive over the prairies of North Dakota brought us to the 
home of our host and guide, Mr. Alfred Eastgate, in a picturesque 
spot by the side of a little pond surrounded by trees and shrubbery. 
It had been an eventful day, May 30, 1901, my introduction to the 
fascinating bird life of the western prairies. Everything was new, 
strange, and interesting, possessing that peculiar charm which a 
naturalist experiences only on his first day in an entirely new region. 
We had stopped several times to explore the timber belts, teeming 
with small birds, and to examine nests of goldeneyes and ferruginous 
roughlegs. I had made the acquaintance of at least a dozen new 
birds and had learned to see other familiar species in a new light 
as I met them in their summer homes on the prairies and in the 
sloughs. In the little pond by the house were a pair of beautiful 
horned grebes, resplendent with their full nuptial plumage and their 
great fluffy heads; with them were two pairs of blue-winged teal, a 
pair of shovelers, and several lesser scaup ducks; a noisy pair of 
killdeers were running along the shore and several ring-billed gulls 
and black terns were flying overhead. The grebes had recently ar- 
rived on their breeding grounds and were busy with their courtships 
and preparations for nest building; their weird and striking notes 
were heard frequently all through the evening and it was a fitting 
ending to such a delightful day to be lulled to sleep by the love song 
of the horned grebe. 
Nesting.—This pair built their nest in this little pond, but we 
went away before the eggs were laid and we did not find any more 
