Birds of Pennsylvania. 
ORDER PYGOPODES. DIVING BIRDS. 
Suborder PODICIPEDES. Grebes. 
Family PODICIPID.®. Grebes. 
THE GREBES. 
Grebes during the spring and fall migrations are very generally distributed 
throughout the state, and during mild winters birds of this family are often seen 
about the larger lakes, ponds and rivers in different sections of the commonwealth. 
Although these birds are generally observed singly or in pairs, occasionally, a good- 
sized flock is to be found. In relation to the Grebes in general it can be stated that, 
unless flying, they are almost always to be seen in the water. The several species 
of this family, owing to the posterior situation of their legs, move with considerable 
difficulty when on the ground, over which they go in a slow, floundering manner. 
Grebes, like some other kinds of aquatic birds when wounded, will conceal them¬ 
selves in weeds and grasses, which grow so luxuriantly in their favorite watery 
retreats, where they will remain for a considerable period of time with only their 
slender, tapering bills above the water’s surface. They swim and dive with the 
utmost facility ; when swimming beneath the water’s surface, either in quest of prey 
or to escape capture, it is said they use their wings in the same manner as when 
flying in the air. Their well-known habit of diving when alarmed, and particularly 
if shot at, has won for them the common name of “ Hell-divers.” The Grebe’s nest 
consists of a thick, matted mass of vegetation, such as reeds, flags, grasses, etc. 
Sometimes the nest is built close to the water, but usually, according to Mr. Ridg- 
way,* it is to be found “floating upon the surface of the water in grassy or sedgy 
ponds or marshes.” The same eminent authority describes the eggs as follows: 
“2-5, dull white, bluish white, or very pale bluish green, usually stained more or 
less (often quite deeply) w r ith light brown, by contact with decomposed vegetable 
matter.” With the exception of the Pied-billed Grebe (Poctilymbus podiceps), rep¬ 
resentatives of this family occurring in Pennsylvania breed, generally, north of the 
United States. Grebes subsist chiefly on fishes, frogs, various aquatic insects— 
especially beetles—and to a limited extent on different water plants. They confer 
no special benefits, nor are they in any particular detrimental to agricultural inter¬ 
ests. Their flesh, quite tough and disagreeable to the taste, is seldom eaten, the 
feathers, however, are considerably used by milliners, and by furriers for muffs, etc. 
For these purposes the beautiful silvery-white plumage of the breast and abdomen 
is taken. 
Bill acute and hard, variable in length, straight or decurved at end ; higher than 
wide. Head with a naked loral space, and furnished either with bristly or variously 
elongated feathers, usually called tufts or crests. These crests, which render the 
* A | Manual 1 of | North American Birds. | by j Robert Ridgway. | illustrated by4t»4 outline drawings of 
the generic characters. | Philadelphia. | J. B. J.ippincott Company. | 1887 | . 
1 Birds. 
