38 



The Hawkeye Ornithologist and Oologist. 



HABITS OF SOME AMERICAN 

 GREBES. 



BY OLIYKR DAYIE. 



The grebes are strange birds closely 

 resembling the loons in their gener- 

 al structure. They are expert divers 

 and, like the anhinga or snakebird, 

 when alarmed quietly sink back into 

 the water and disappear. Like all 

 true divers they are awkward on 

 land and from the posterior position 

 of the legs, they stand almost up- 

 right, so that they have more the 

 air of a small kangaroo than of a 

 bird. 



The Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus 

 podieeps which is a common species 

 throughout the United States, breeds 

 in the marshes, lakes and large bodi- 

 es of water throughout its range. 

 The nest is a little floating island of 

 decaying rushes, reeds or grass, mix- 

 ed 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 tlie water, where it measures 

 12 or 15 inches in diameter, or it is 

 just large enough to hold the eggs 

 Beneath, the nest is usually very large 

 and may extend from one to three feet 

 in depth or to the bottom. Thick- 

 billed and Carolina grebe, pied-bill, 

 dabchick, dipper, waterwitch, "devil- 

 diver," and "hell-diver" are some of 

 the names applied to this species. 

 The American eared grebe, Colyvibus 

 nigrieollis californicus which in- 

 habits North America west of the 

 Mississippi, builds a similar nest but 

 generally in open situations in flags 

 and rushes or upon a floating founda- 

 tion in shallow water. 



The Western Grebe, AUchmophoms 

 occidentalis, the largest of the North 

 American grebes, nests also similar to 



the common dabchick and is found 

 breeding abundantly in Dakota, and 

 northward into British America. 



A remarkable fact concerning the 

 nidification of the grebes is, that they 

 cover their nests with weeds and 

 .grass before leaving them; but when 

 suddenly alarmed will often hurriedly 

 slip off the' nest and leave the eggs 

 exposed. The habit of covering 

 the eggs is either for the pur- 

 pose of concealing them from 

 enemies, such as hawks, owls and 

 gulls; or, that by means of the artifi- 

 cial heat produced by the decaying 

 vegetation they are more or less de- 

 pendent for the hatching of them. 

 When thus covered the birds 

 are known to remain away from their 

 nests during the entire daytime. 



Holbne.ll's grebe, Colymbus Jwlbcellii, 

 which breeds in high latitudes, has 

 some peculiar habits which are also 

 common to the horned grebe, C. auri- 

 fws and the loon. As soon as the 

 young are hatched the mother takes 

 them upon her back, and swims with 

 them in this position for hours at a 

 ■time. When diving for food the 

 young remain on her back, while she 

 feeds them with small fishes and 

 vegetable substances. These habits 

 remind one of that strange and ex- 

 traordinary compound of an animal, 

 the opossum, which is often seen 

 with a dozen sharp-nosed, sleek-head- 

 ed young sitting on their mother's 

 back, around whose prehensile ap- 

 pendage they entwine their tails to 

 hold fast. Mr. W. W. Cooke in the 

 Auk (vol. 1, p. 249) says that the 

 Chippewa Indians call the grebes 

 Shin -gi-bits, which means deformed. 

 He says that the Indian stories by 

 which they account for this name are 

 as follows: 



"Once upon a time the Great Spirit 

 looked down on all the beasts and 

 birds and saw that their lives were 

 one dull round of monotonous toil. 



