258 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS, 



I 



FAMiiiY PODICIPID-ffi.— The Grebes. 



Ohabaotees. Swimmers resembling the Loons in the posterior Insertion of the legs, 

 but the toes lobate and semlpalmate. Instead of completely webbed, the claws broa ', flat, 

 and nail-like, instead of normally narrow and curved. Bill variable in shape ; nostrils vari- 

 able, but without an overhanging lobe ; wings very short and concave, the primaries cov- 

 ered by the secondaries in the closed wing; tail rudimentary, consisting of a mere tuft of 

 dovniy , loose- webbed feathers, without perfectly formed rectrices ; plumage of the lower 

 surface remarkably silky and lustrous, usually white. ^ 



The Grebes are aquatic birds, poorly adapted for protracted 

 flight, on account of the smallness of their wings, but among 

 the most expert of divers. Their nest is a thick matted plat- 

 form of rushes, sedges, etc., usually floating upon the surface of 

 the water in grassy or sedgy ponds or marshes. The eggs are 

 2-5, dull white, bluish white; or very pale bluish green, usually 

 stained more or less (often quite deeply) with light brown, by 

 contact with decomposed vegetable matter. 



The recognized North American genera may be distinguished 

 as follows: 



A. Bill slender, the length of the oulmen much more than twice the depth of the bill at the 



base. 

 [I. Sohmophorus. Lengthofculmen at least five times the greatest depth of the bill; 

 neck nearly as long as the body. (Not represented in the Illinois fauna.)] 



2. Colymbus. Length of culmen less than four times the greatest depth of the bill ; 



neck much shorter than the body. 



B. Bill very stout, the length of the culmen less than twice the greatest depth of the bill. 



3, Fodil^bua. 



Genus COLYMBUS Linnaeus. 



Oolymbus Linn. 8. N. ed. 10, 1, 1758, 135; ed. 12, i, 17G6, 220. Type, by elimination, Colymbus 



cristatus Linn. 

 Podiceps Lath. Ind. Cm. ii, 1790, 780 (part ; but, type, by elimination and restriction, Golym- 



busfluviatilis Tunst.). 

 Dytes Eauf. Sk. Ent. Eur. Thierw. 1829, 49. Type, Colymhus cornutus Gmei,.,=C'. auritus 



Linn. 

 Prootopus Kaup. 1. 0. Type, Podiceps nigricollis Bbehm. 

 Otodytea Beioh. Syst. Nat. 1853, p. Ill (same type). 

 Taohybaptus Ebiohenb. Syst. Av. 1852. p. lii. Type, Oolymbus minor Qiisi,.,=C.fl)i,viatilis 



TUNBT. 



Gen. Ohab. Neck much shorter than the body; bill not longer than the head, more or 

 less slender, its depth never more than one third the length of the oulmen; tarsus decidedly 

 shorter than middle toe with olaw. Nuptial plumage ornamented by colored tufts, ruffs, or ' 

 patches about the head, and very <il(E9rent In this tespaot from the winter plumaao.. 



