GREBES 
41 
Distribution. Grebes are distributed over the whole of Canada, well into the Arctic 
zone. In the breeding season they are generally more common on fresh than on salt water. 
Grebes are, typically, inhabitants of fresh ponds and lakes, though at 
times they frequent the sea in numbers. The adults are coloured in rather 
broad masses; the young usually show sharp stripes, especially about the 
head, indicating that the family has descended from a common striped 
ancestor. The grebe breasts, formerly much used for trimming and millin- 
ery purposes, are procured from birds of this family. The former sacrifice 
of large numbers for this purpose and the continued drainage of many of 
their natural breeding grounds have greatly reduced their number. 
Fortunately the Migratory Birds Convention Act with the United States 
protects these birds at all seasons of the year over most of the continent 
and their slaughter for millinery purposes is now a thing of the past. 
Economic Status. Feeding almost entirely upon water-inhabiting 
creatures they are of little direct economic importance. Considerable 
masses of feathers are found in many grebe stomachs, but the reason for 
their presence is not perfectly understood. They are commonly feathers 
from the bird’s own body and it has been suggested by Wetmore, “Condor,” 
1920, pages 18-20, that they serve as a plug to prevent fish bones from being 
carried from the stomach into the intestine before they are properly softened 
by digestion. Why such mechanical assistance is necessary in this par- 
ticular division of birds is an enigma. 
2. Red-necked Grebe, le gr^be jougris. Colymbus grisegena. L, 19. This is 
one of our two larger grebes ( See Western Grebe). Summer adults have a jet black cap 
continuing down the back of the 
neck, white cheeks and throat 
faintly tinted with grey, and a rich 
chestnut-red neck (Figure 76). 
Distinctions. Size will distinguish 
this grebe from all but the West- 
ern, and colour from the Western. 
Juveniles generally have a sugges- 
tion of rufous mixed with the dull 
grey neck, but are otherwise similar 
to the young Western, though 
colours are much less contrasted 
and more blended. 
Field Marks. The pearly grey or 
silvery white cheek patch against 
the darker crown and neck makes 
the adult recognizable at long range. 
The shorter, greyer, and less grace- 
ful neck will separate the juvenile 
from the Western Grebe, and the 
white wing patches, shown in flight, 
will distinguish it from any of the 
loons. In flight the Red-necked Grebe shows two white areas on each wing; that on the 
forward edge of the limb from wrist to body is very striking and characteristic. 
Nesting. On floating or stationary vegetable compost or marshy islets near the 
shores of freshwater lakes. 
Distribution. Europe, western Asia, and across the American continent, breeding 
along our southern border from Manitoba westward and northward. 
This grebe in the breeding season is commonly seen on all the prairie 
sloughs. Those who live close to such localities have probably heard its 
loud, raucous notes and perhaps have wondered whence they came. 
SUBSPECIES. The American form of this species is Holboell’s Grebe (le Grfebc 
k cou rouge) Colymbus grisegena holboelli. 
Figure 76 
Holboell’s Grebes; scale, $. 
Winter Summer 
