Nesting of the Pied-billed Grebe. 
The doubts that existed in my mind in re¬ 
gard to whether Grebes sit on their eggs to in¬ 
cubate them are entirely eradicated. A good 
opportunity has presented itself in both ; the 
Eared Grebe (Colymbus nigricollis californicux) 
and the Pied-billed Grebe ( Podilymbux podi- 
ceps) and I took advantage of it to watch their 
nidification. 
A pair of Pied-billed Grebes built their 
nest in the moss in a lake in full view of my 
house, and near enough to distinctly see the 
eggs of which six were laid. The old birds 
sat on them persistently for about four 
weeks, and only on three occasions during 
that time did I see the nest vacated, and then 
only for a few minutes, and this July has been 
the hottest month I ever experienced here. 
They have hatched out their brood and there 
is now a pair that has a nest with four eggs 
that have been sitting two weeks, and I have 
not known the old bird to voluntarily leave the 
nest yet. I have been out in a boat twice to 
look at them, and as in the case of the 
others the old bird gets the eggs pretty well 
covered up by the time I get to them. The 
eggs, as in the case of the others, were al¬ 
ways warm on the upper side and cool on the 
under, although I once visited them before 
the sun was up to make sure that that was not 
the direct cause of their upper side being warm. 
The eggs are placed about on a level 
with the water, and when first laid are of a 
pea green, but soon become brown through 
contact with the decaying matter of which the 
nest is generally composed. 
I took a large series of sets of the Eared 
Grebes about a month ago that all retained 
their natural color owing to no decaying matter 
being used in their nests but live grass. That 
alone would upset the decomposing theory, 
plenty of decaying material was at hand, but 
they chose a variety of grass that grew on the 
bottom of the lake in water six feet deep, and 
this they deposited on this water moss, but a 
gale of wind a few days after I had visited 
them carried away all their nests and eggs. 
1 shall attentively watch the new colony near 
my residence and will inform the readers of 
O. & O. later. Wm. O. Smith. 
Loveland, Colorado. 
O &Q. XIV,Se pt. 1889 p. 138-8 
Nesting of the Pied-billed Grebe. 
1 noticed that in the September O. & O. 
Mr. Wm. G. Smith had an article on the nest¬ 
ing of the Pied-billed Greb e (Podilymbvs pod- 
iceps) in which he gave it as his opinion that 
this Grebe incubates its eggs by the warmth of 
its own body rather than allowing them to 
hatch by the heat being generated by the de¬ 
caying vegetation which usually composes the 
nest. 
We should all feel indebted to Mr. Smith 
for this new in'ormation as it has hitherto 
been supposed that the Grebe invariably relied I 
on the decl‘»g vegetation to furnish the heat 
necessary to Vatcli the eggs. 
At Minneapolis, Minn., I had ample oppor¬ 
tunities to observe the nesting habits of this 
bird, and in that locality, as far as my experi¬ 
ence went, I found that the birds never sat on 
the eggs in the daytime. Whether or not 
they do so in the night I am unable to say. 
I have examined hundreds of their nests, 
and in every case where the set was com¬ 
plete the eggs were covered with the vege¬ 
table matter. Incomplete sets of three, four 
or live were generally found uncovered. 
This is a good point for the decaying theory 
it seems to me, as the birds did not want the 
eggs to begin to incubate until the full com¬ 
plement had been deposited. 
I have also noticed that the deeper the 
eggs are imbedded in the refuse matter the 
more incubated they are, a fresh set having 
just a thin layer over them. I cannot ac¬ 
count for this unless the layer first put on 
loses its heat after a time, and more is heaped 
on, for if we dig into it we find that the 
deeper we go the warmer it gets; and per¬ 
haps the Grebe realizes that it is best to be 
certain that her already incubated eggs do not 
become cold. But this is only theory and 
will not be tolerated; facts are what are 
wanted. 
I have never seen a Grebe on her nest, al¬ 
though I ha-ve often come suddenly and noise¬ 
lessly upon it. At other times I have been on 
the edge of swamps where the reeds were thin, 
and I could see three or four nests at a time, 
and although the birds were sometimes around 
they were never on or very near them. I think 
it will be safe to say that the Grebe does 
not sit on her eggs in that locality, but re¬ 
lies on the decaying matter to hatch them. 
Let us hear from others on the subject. 
Geo. G. Cantwell. 
Lake Mills, Wls. 
O.&O. XV, Feb. 1880 p. /£ 
