6 NESTS AND. EGGS OF 



Thick-billed and Carolina Grebe, Pied-blU Dabchick, Dipper, Water-witch, 

 "Devil-diver," and "Hell-diver" are some of the names applied to this Grebe. Most 

 of these refer to its wonderful powers of disappearance under Water, and by one or 

 more of these names it is known to every boy who has wandered with a gun along 

 any of our creeks and rivers. It is a common bird throughout its range. The nest 

 of the Dabchick is a little floating island of decaying rushes, reeds or grass, mixed 

 with mud and debris brought up from the bottom of the slough or reedy pool in 

 which it is built. The structure is fastened to the flags and aquatic plants; these are 

 pulled down and piled upon each other till the nest rises two or three inches above 

 the water. Mr. A. M. Shields informs me that in the neighborhood of Los Angeles, 

 Cala., this species is very abundant — any lake or pond without the presence of two 

 or three little Grebes seems very barren indeed. It nests about the middle of May. 

 The number of eggs laid by this species ranges from six to nine; the complement; 

 however, is usually seven, and their average size is 1.72x1.17. Five specimens se- 

 lected from five sets exhibit the following dimensions: 1.68x1.19, 1.70x1.18, 1.73x1.18, 

 1.74x1.17, 1.70x1.17. In Kansas, in the latter part of May, a number of nests were 

 found containing from five to ten eggs each.* This species, like other Grebes, during 

 the process of incubation, . conceals its eggs with a covering of weeds and other 

 vegetable material during the day, "and they are uncovered at dusk by the bird, 

 who incubates them until the morning sun relieves her of her task." 



7. LOON. Urinator irriber (Gunn.) Geog. Dist. — Northern part of Northern 

 Hemisphere. ' In North America breeds from the Northern States northward; ranges 

 in winter s6uth to the GuU of Mexico. 



The Loons are large, heavy birds, with flattened bodies and rather long necks; 

 the legs are placed far back in the body, giving them great propelling power in the 

 water. They are the most expert of all divers, disappearing beneath the water at 

 the flash of a gun. The present species is known as the Great Northern Diver. In 

 North America it is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific, breeding from about 

 latitude 42° northward to within the Arctic circle. Mr. Nelson states that this Loon 

 is less common on the shores of Bering Sea than either the Red or the Black-throated 

 species, but Is- far from rare at most places.f Mr. W. A. Davidson found the Loon 

 nesting In the marshes of the Detroit River. Mr. 5!dson A. McMillan informs me that 

 they, are quite common in the lakes of the Adirondack mountain region during the 

 breeding season, which Is about the first part of June. Here they breed, on the 

 islands occupied as l)reedlng grounds by, the American Herring Gull, Larus argen- 

 tatus smithsonianus. He says that of n;ne different LoOns' nests which he examined, 

 none of them contained material of any kind; they were simply hollows in the sand 

 whero the eggs were deposited. In Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin and other lo- 

 calities the birds are known to build a roughly-formed hollow of Sticls^s, weeds, sod 

 and water grass. Mr. Andreas T. Hagerup in his "Birds of Greenland." says that 

 he obtained from the Greenlanders eggs of this species In July and August. The 

 Loon's eggc are very dark-colored, of an olivaceous brown, sometimes olivaceous 



* "Ornltholog-ist and Oologlst," a monthly magazine devoted to the study of Birds, 

 th«ir Nests and Eggs. Volunie X, p. 165. Published by Prank B. Webster, Hyde Park! 



t Report upon Natural History Cillections made in Alaska between the' years 1877 

 and 1881 by- Edward W. NelSon. Edited by Henry W. Henshaw. Prepared under the di- 

 rection of the chief signal officer. No. Ill, Arctic Series of Publications Issued In con- 

 nection with the Signal Service, U. S. Army, with 21 Plates. Washington: Government 

 Printing Office, 18S7. 



