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THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVI 
what for individual eggs, as does also the form in different specimens. As to 
tlie white, chalky deposit, it by no means always obscures the pale blue ground 
color of the egg, for in some the layer is extremely thin, while in others it 
may have been more generously applied or deposited on the surface, some- 
times even in heavy circumscribed blotches (see no. 2). 
Two eggs of this grebe are given in figure 50 with this article (nos. 1 and 
2) ; they are from the Court collection, and were taken by A. 0. Treganza at 
Utah Lake, Utah, on the 29th of May, 1904 (set mark 29-4). Mr. Treganza, 
Avho resides at Salt Lake City, describes the nest as being a “platform of 
reeds, partly floating, partly resting on broken-down reeds ; nest proper com- 
posed of decayed reeds. Water three to six feet deep.” 
The colony of grebes, where these eggs were collected, was located about 
two miles from the shore, and contained about one hundred nests. Some of 
the clutches were in advanced incubation. Eggs from the other nests are be- 
fore me, but their characters are the same as those already given for the 
specimens shown in the figures. 
Passing to Colymhus holboelli, a grebe of which I have several eggs at 
hand belonging to the Court collection, it is to be noted that they very closely 
resemble those of the Western Grebe just described (fig. 50, nos. 3 and 4). 
Tliey are, however, somewhat smaller, a fact noted by Eidgway in his Manual 
(“Eggs 2-5, 2.23x1.37,” p. 5.) 
Coues on the other hand says, in the last edition of his ‘ ‘ Key ” : “ Eggs 
2-5, sometimes more, oftener 3 or 4, 2.10-2.35x1.51-1.45, rough, whitish, either 
inclining to pale greenish or with huffy discoloration, of the narrow-elongate 
shape usual in this family” (p. 1056). That they are not always of the “elon- 
gate shape,” will be appreciated by comparing nos. 1 and 3 of this paper. The 
“huffy discoloration” is to be attributed to stains due to coming in contact 
with the decaying vegetation composing the nest. Mr. William B. Arnold col- 
lected the eggs of the Holboell Grebe shown in nos. 3 and 4 of fig. 50 (IMani- 
toba, Canada, June 15, 1910). 
Reed, in his above cited book, says of the eggs of the Holboell grebe: “They 
lay from three to six eggs of a dingy white color which have the stained sur- 
face common to Grebes’ eggs, size 2.35x1.25.” Those shown in nos. 3 and 4 of 
the present article are somewhat larger than this, though very slightly so. 
There is considerable chalky deposit on no. 4, while no. 3 has hardly any, and 
is of a very pale greenish shade. 
I have not illustrated the egg of the Horned Grebe {Colymhus auritus), 
but a specimen of it is shown in Reed’s “North American Birds’ Eggs” (p. 2), 
and he says in regard to this species : ‘ ‘ They build a typical Grebe ’s nest, a 
floating mass of decayed matter which stains the naturally white eggs to a 
dirty brown. The number of eggs varies from three to seven. Size 1.70x1.15.” 
To represent Colymhus nigricollis, I have selected eggs of the Eared Grebe 
(C. n. calif ornic us) , and two of these are shown in fig. 51, nos. 7 and 8. They are 
typical for this species, and I have several of them at hand from Mr. Court’s 
collection. Mr. A. M. Ingersoll took them at Lake San Jacinto, Riverside Coun- 
ty, California, on the 8th of June, 1897. At the time they were collected there 
were many nests there with eggs of this bird in sight. The floating nests were 
attached to growing grass in about fifteen inches of water (set mark 2021, no. 4). 
Coues says of the eggs of this grebe that they are “not dis- 
tinguishable from those of C. auritus” (p. 1058) ; while Reed {loc. 
