The Western Grebe 



Taken in Oregon 



However populous the 

 floating city may be per 

 se, the owners are pretty 

 careful to keep away 

 while it is under review. 

 It is only by stealth that 

 one can unravel the mys- 

 teries of Grebetown, and 

 a week's study leaves 

 one far from satisfied. 



The requirements 

 are an extensive area of 

 water-plants, preferably 

 arums, but bulrushes 

 (the immortal "tules") 

 will do ; shallow water to 

 match ; and fishing privi- 

 leges in the open. The 

 depth of water in the 

 lakes is likely to vary 

 from year to year, and 

 the nesting ground may 

 be shifted to correspond, 

 but the nests are usu- 

 ally placed in from two 

 to ten feet of water. For 

 their construction the 

 birds secure fresh mater- 

 ials, using chiefly green 

 stalks and the root- 

 stocks of the arums; if 

 in shallow water, heap- 

 ing the material up from 

 the bottom until the mass rises several inches above the water; if in deep 

 water, forming a floating island loosely anchored to the surrounding vege- 

 tation. But in either case, it is large enough and strong enough to support 

 the weight of the sitting bird above water. 



Here from three to five eggs are laid, of a delicate greenish blue 

 color when fresh, but soon fading and becoming discolored through con- 

 tact with decaying vegetation. The Western Grebe takes less pains than 

 most members of its group to cover its eggs before leaving the nest. 

 Occasionally a few coarse grasses are pulled over the eggs, and now and 



Copyright by H. 

 AN INTERROGATION POINT 



2042 



