THE COLLECTORS' MONTHLY 



Notes on the Birds of Long 

 Island. 



WITH BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF EACH SPECIES. 



BY W. W. WORTHINGTON. 



The following notes are the results of 

 twelve years jottings in the fields. I am 

 indebted to Mr. A. II. Melme of Millers 

 Place, L. I., for valuable notes, and have 

 drawn from the published records of Mr. 

 Wm. Dutcher of N. Y., to both of whom 

 credit is given in the text. Items of my ex- 

 perience with some of the species in the 

 South it is hoped wiil be found interesting, 

 and the brief descriptions will doubtless be 

 found useful by new beginners, in identify- 

 ing specimens. 



The first is the list No. The next that of 

 the A. O. U., and the one after the name 

 that of the Ridgway Catalogue. 



The description is supposed to be that of 

 the adult male. 



(i) _. Colymbus Holboellii: 

 Holboell's Grebe, (731.) 



Above brownish black. Top of head and nape 

 black, Primaries ashy brown. Secondaries mostly 

 white. Throat and sides of head ashy. Chin, and 

 line under eye, whitish. Front and sides of neck 

 brownish red. Beneath silky white. Bill black. 

 Yellow at base. Iris bright carmine. Length iS 

 inches. 



A not uncommon winter visitor. In the 

 plumage (lackirg the red neck). I have had 

 one specimen in the adult plumage. Called 

 "Peggy Loon" by local gunners. Some 

 times caught in the fishermens fyke nets, 

 by becoming entangled in the twine while 

 diving after the fish. Like the other 

 members of the Grebe family they are adepts 

 at diving, and are not easily secured unless 

 shot while flying in an exposed position. 



Breeds in the far North. Nest, a mass of 

 rubbish, floating, among reeds in swamps or 

 marshes. Eggs'average 2:25 x 1:30 inches, 

 dull white,' soiled surface. 



(2). 3. DyUt Auritur. 



Horned Grebe, (739.) 



Crown, checks, throat and rtift, black. A b.in.l 

 from bill over eye to occiput yellowish brown. 

 Above brownish black, the feathers with grayish 



margins. Primaries ashy. Secondaries mostly 

 white. Throat and upper breast bright chestnut 

 red. Beneath silky white. Lacks the brown NU 

 red markings in winter, assuming the full plumage 

 in April, Length 14 inches. 



An abundant winter resident, called "Hell 

 Diver," and "Water Witch" by local gun- 

 ners, owing to its ability to dive at the flash 

 of a gun sufficiently quick to escape the shot 

 "One seen June 1 1 ; [SS3" (Ilelme.) 



Breeds in the far North. Nest, and its 

 site similar to all the Grebe. Kggs average 

 t : 72 x 1: '5, dirty bluish white, usually 

 discolored. 



(3). 6. Podilxmbus podiceps: 

 Thick-Billed Grebe (735) 



Above dark brown. Cheeks and sides of neck 

 grayish. Throat with a black patch. Beneath 

 whitish, with dusky mottlings. Bill blue, with » 

 black band across both mandibles. The young 

 lacks the throat patch, and band on bill. Length 

 I4 inches. 



A rather common migrant, but scarcely 

 ever seen, owing to their lightning like 

 disappearance on the approach of danger, 

 and their ability to keep themselves concealed 

 exposing only the tip of the bill above watei 

 untill the danger is past. A male of this 

 species has frequented a pond on Sheltei 

 Island the entire spring and summer 1 1887J 

 Whether he has a mate, and they have reared 

 a brood of young there or not, I have been 

 unable to discover. The male has attracted 

 the attention of many passers, by his loud 

 notes, and I have tried in vain to add his 

 skin to my collection. 



Breeds nearly throughout the U. S. Eggs 

 average 1 : 72 x 1 : 17 in. Six or more in 

 number, discolored bluish white, laid in 

 May. 



