GREBES 
5 
ORDER PYGOPODES: DIVING BIRDS. 
(Families Podicipidte, Gaviid^e, Alcuxe.) 
FAMILY PODICIPIDJE: GREBES. 
KEY TO GENERA. 
1. Bill long and slender, tip not decurved. 
2. Bill five or more times as long as depth at base. 
^Gchmophorns, p. 5. 
2'. Bill less than four times as long as depth at base. 
Colymbus, p. 6. 
1'. Bill short and stout, tip of upper mandible decurved. 
Podilymbus, p. 8. 
GENUS iECHMOPHORUS. 
1. ^chmophorus occidentalis ( Lawr .). Western Grebe. 
Head without side 
crests; bill slender; 
neck nearly as long 
as body. Adults: 
top of head and line 
down back of neck 
blackish ; back 
slaty gray ; throat 
and under parts sil¬ 
very white. Male : 
length 24-29, wing 
7.45-8.50, bill 2.60- 
3.05. Female: 
smaller, bill 2.10- 
2.48. Flg> 20> 
Distribution. — From the Pacific to Manitoba, and from central Mexico 
to British Columbia and Alberta. 
Nest. — Floating on the water, a raft of tule stems, grassland water 
plants, with a slight depression in the centre. Eggs: 4 to 5, white. 
To find the western grebe at home go to the tule-bordered lakes 
of eastern Oregon. Creep through the tall grass and part the tules 
on the edge of a clear pond, and right before you on the water is the 
grebe, with its silvery throat, graceful form, and fiery eye. A sud¬ 
den motion of your hand, and the needle-like bill pierces the water 
and the bird disappears like a flash of light, to reappear a full 
minute later well beyond shot-gun range from shore. If you make 
yourself known less suddenly the grebe instead of diving sinks 
slowly and without a ripple, never to reappear except far away or 
in some hidden part of the tules. 
As you watch the birds out in the lake, popping up and remain¬ 
ing long enough for a good breath, then going below to stay a much 
