ZOOLOGY. 
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PODICEPS OCCIDENTALS, Lawrence. 
The Western Grebe. 
Podiceps occidentalis, (Lawrence,) Baird & Lawrence, Gen. Rep. Birds,p. 894. 
Sp. Ch— Winter: Upper part of the head and nape fuliginous black; back and wing coverts grayish black, the feathers 
margined with gray ; primaries light ashy brown, darker at the end and white at base ; secondaries white, marked with ash on 
the outer webs; in some specimens the middle secondaries are pure white ; space between the bill and the eye gray ; throat, sides 
of the neck, and entire under plumage silvery white ; sides marked with grayish black ; bill dusky, appearing nearly black in the 
dried specimens, except on the cutting edges and at the end, where it is yellow ; iris orange red ; tarsi and feet blackish olive 
externally, and internally greenish yellow. Length, 24 to 28 inches ; extent, 34.50 to 36 ; wing, from 7.50 to 8.50; bill, 3; 
tarsus, 3. Female smallest. A large individual in Dr. Suckley’s collection had the tarsus 3.50 inches : bill from gape, 3.75. 
Hdb .—Pacific coast, from Washington Territory to California. 
This grebe I observed during winter on Shoalwater bay, and in March at Puget Sound, but 
have never seen one at any time between May and November, when they return southward. 
While at anchor in the sound, one afternoon about sunset, large numbers of this and the preceding 
species came near the boat, and I succeeded in killing four, three of which I obtained. At a little 
distance the two species are difficult to distinguish, and also very hard to shoot, unless fired at 
when they are looking another way. They were most active and numerous towards sunset, when 
their loud bleating resounded everywhere around us. The P. cali/ornicus was abundant on the 
sound at the same time. Both species are frequently washed up dead after storms. They all 
fly strongly and rapidly, though rising from the water with difficulty. The much longer neck 
of this species will alone distinguish it from P. cristatus , which it so much resembles in coloring 
and size. After skinning them I measured their necks, including all the cervical vertebrae, 
and found the neck of this species to be 12| inches long, four inches more than that of the 
other. It is scarcely long and slender enough, as represented in the figure.—C. 
The western grebe is a regular visitor at Puget Sound during the cold months, and is 
usually quite a common winter resident on its bays and inlets. In the fall of 1856 I obtained 
numerous specimens in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, finding them most abundant at the 
mouths of the small rivers and creeks emptying into the sound. These latter they ascend at 
flood-tide, swimming up to the fresh water, where they remain diving and fishing until the tide 
having changed and the water falling, they retreat gradually back to the deeper waters of the 
sound. They are generally found in couples, even late in the fall. At that season they are 
without the elongated feathers of the head, characteristic of other species during the spring 
and early summer. It is called by the Nisqually Indians swah-teese , and is said by them to 
have formerly been an Indian man—the elder brother of the Podiceps cornutus , a very dis¬ 
reputable character, and the wife of the great blue heron. 
A specimen killed near Fort Steilacoom, October 8, 1856, measured as follows : length, 24 
inches; extent, 33; wing, 7.87; from angle of eye to tip of bill, 2.90; tarsi, externally dusky 
olive, internally pale dusky greenish yellow ; iris, orange ; bill, dusky above; pale on the sides 
and tip.—S. 
PODICEPS CORNUTUS, (Gm.)Lath. 
Tlie Horned Grebe. 
Colymbus cornutus, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 591. 
Podiceps cornutus, Lath. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 783.— Bon. Syn. 1828, No. 3 .— Rich. & S>v. F. B. A. II, 1831, 
411.— Nutt. Man. II, 1834, 254.— Aud. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 429 : V, 1839, 623 .—Ib. Birds 
Ain. VII, 1844, 316; pi. cccelxxxi.— Baird & Lawrence, Gen. Rep. Birds, p. 895. 
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