200 
THE HORNED GREBE. 
adopted has to be disproved, I here repeat that I have seen flocks of Grebes 
on wing and migrating high in the air, apparently with as much ease as 
many longer- winged birds, and with considerable velocity. 
Towards evening, on the 14th of October, 1820, 1 was floating in a small 
boat on the Ohio. The weather was perfectly calm, and I was startled by a 
whistling sound over head, resembling that of a Hawk stooping on its prey, 
when, on looking up, I saw a flock of Grebes, about thirty in number, 
gliding towards the water as if about to alight within a quarter of a mile 
from me. In a few minutes they had come within a few yards of the 
surface of the water-, when suddenly checking their speed, they pursued 
their course until out of sight ; but in a short time I saw them returning 
towards me, and in less than a minute they all passed at a distance of forty 
or fifty yards, took a round and alighted pell-mell. The next moment, they 
were all engaged in washing and trimming themselves, in the manner of 
Ducks, Cormorants, and other aquatic birds. As I rowed towards them, they 
scarcely took notice of me, so that they were easily approached ; and find- 
ing a number of them close together, I fired and killed four. The rest pad- 
died off for some yards, rose on wing, and flew down the stream in a pretty 
close body, looking as if not disposed to settle again for some time. On 
picking up the dead birds, I found them to be of the present species, three 
being young, the other an adult with the winter plumage beginning to ap- 
pear. Here I may remark, that Grebes in general do not moult so early 
as most ether birds after they have young ; thus the Crested Grebe often 
passes to the south in September, with its head still adorned with a large 
portion of the feathers of its spring and summer tippet. While residing at 
different places on the Ohio, I have many times witnessed the passage of 
the Horned and the Crested. 
The Horned Grebe is abundant during autumn and winter on the large 
rivers or inlets of the Southern States, but rare along the coasts of the 
Middle and Eastern Districts. On the rivers about Charleston in South 
Carolina it is seen at those seasons in considerable numbers, although not in 
larger flocks than from four to seven individuals. The same is observable 
from that place to the mouths of the Mississippi. It is particularly fond of 
those streams of which the borders are overgrown by rank sedges and other 
plants, and are subject to the influx of the tide. In such places they enjoy 
greater security while searching for their food than in ponds, to which, 
however, they for the most part retire at the approach of the pairing season, 
which commences early in February. At that time one might be apt to 
think that these birds could scarcely fly, as they are then rarely seen on 
wing ; but when the/ are pursued, and there happens to be a breeze, they 
rise from the water with considerable ease, and fly to a distance of several 
