898 
U. S. P. E. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
But two species are enumerated in this genus, one inhabiting South and the other North 
America. They do not appear to go very far north, hut are distributed pretty generally over 
the temperate parts of the continent, prefering the fresh water streams and lakes. 
When alarmed by the approach of any person, they have a peculiar habit of sinking gradually 
in the water, the bill being the last to disappear; this is accomplished so slowly that no 
disturbance of the water takes place. 
The head is not adorned with ruffs or tufts. 
POMLYMBUS PODICEPS, Lawrence. 
The Pied-Bill Grebe. 
Colymbus podiceps, Linn. S. N. 1766, 223. 
Colymbus ludovicianus, Gm. I. 592. 
Podiceps carolinensis, Lath. lad. Orn. II, 1790, 785.— Bonap. Syn. 1828. No. 367.— Rich. & Sw. F. B. A. II, 1831, 
412.— Nutt. Man. II, 1834, 259— Aud. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 359 : V, 1839,624 — Ib. Birds Am. 
VII, 1844, 324 ; pi. cccclxxxiii. 
Sylbeocyclus carolinensis, Bon. Cotnp. List, 1838, 64. 
? Podiceps brevirostris, Gray, Genera, III; pi. clxxii. 
Pcdilymbus lineatus, Heermann, Proc. Acad. N. S. Phil. VII, 1854, 179. 
Sp. Ch.— Adult. Upper plumage very dark brown; primaries dark ash ; secondaries ash on the outer webs and white on the 
inner; bill pale-blue, dusky on the ridge of the upper mandible, both mandibles crossed with a broad black band, including the 
nostrils; chin and throat marked with a conspicuous black patch nearly two inches in extent; cheeks and sides of the neck 
brownish grey ; lower part of the neck, upper part of the breast, and the sides, dull rusty brown, spotted and rather indistinctly 
barred with brownish black ; lower part of breast and abdomen greyish white, mottled with dusky spots ; iris, brown; tarsi and 
feet, greyish black. 
Length, 14 inches; wing, ; bill, J ; tarsus, 11. 
Young. The throat is white and the bill without the transverse black band, the under plumage more silvery white ; in other 
respects the same as the adult. Some specimens, probably the birds of the year, have whitish lines on the sides of the head. I 
have compared a specimen in this plumage with Dr. Heermaun’s type of P. lineatus, and found them precisely alike. 
Eab. —Atlantic States generally. Texas and New Mexico. California and Oregon. 
There are six specimens in the collection in different stages of plumage, besides a chick, just 
hatched, which is probably of this species ; in this the color is black, having several whitish 
lines running the entire length of the body ; two pure white stripes from each side of the head, 
and meeting above the hill, separated by a black line; some white stripes on the sides of the 
neck, and some bright rufous spots on the occiput; the bill is black, tipped with pure white. 
As in the allied genera, there is a great disparity in the size of individuals. This species 
may he easily recognized by the short and stout form of the hill; and in mature plumage, by 
the black patch on the throat, and the transverse hand on the hill. 
