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Mes iva he veld We a ob i Lanter Sioa hae cme = se dining ene 7 - Secor Py h Ais ea yners Same ene nip prsrebannre suet mI: Fee onan ; see 3 Sri tes hemeeenen perrte IG comer Dale eee Scares apaenre . re Tt vert ee if ? hee pace erica Sebi mar eet ephineiea a ike ON NEE ae spiel Semen a phietee pico dasa sulsasia tana diapered oe a poryel™ ese Ee ea re Be Seca po Rho cher ethic pe Pobeosd et a Neen s UA mT loa 2 Shire MR EN tt TNO eT LABORATORY OF ORNITHOLOGY CORNELL UNIVERSITY ITHACA, NEW YORK CORNELL LAB of ORNITHOLOGY LIBRARY AT SAPSUCKER WOODS Illustration of Snowy Owl by Louis Agassiz Fuertes iin DATE DUE Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924090252846 BULLETIN 107 PL. I NATIONAL MUSEUM U. S. 8% 3OVd 336 NOMidiNoead HOY ny lve" ‘MoljoaT[og toACY SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM Bulletin 107 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS ORDER PYGOPODES BY ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT Of Taunton, Massachusetts WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 ov Qu bFl, Pe RAT STFqZO ADVERTISEMENT, The scientific publications of the United States National Museum consist of two series, the Proceedings and the Bulletins. The Proceedings, the first volume of which was issued in 1878, are intended primarily as a medium for the publication of original, and usually brief, papers based on the collections of the National Museum, presenting newly-acquired facts in zoology, geology, and anthro- pology, including descriptions of new forms of animals, and revisions of limited groups. One or two volumes are issued annually and dis- tributed to libraries and scientific organizations. A limited number of copies of each paper, in pamphlet form, is distributed to specialists and others interested in the different subjects as soon as printed. The date of publication is recorded in the tables of contents of the volumes. The Bulletins, the first of which was issued in 1875, consist of a series of separate publications comprising chiefly monographs of large zoological groups and other general systematic treatises (oc- casionally in several volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, and catalogues of type-specimens, special collections, ete. The ma- jority of the volumes are octavos, but a quarto size has been adopted in a few instances in which large plates were regarded as indis- pensable. Since 1902 a series of octavo volumes containing papers relating to the botanical collections of the Museum, and known as the Contribu- tions from the National Herbarium, has been published as bulletins. The present work forms No. 107 of the Bulletin series. Wri veC. Ravenen, Administrative Assistant to the Secretary, In charge of the United States National Museum. Wasuineton, D. C. TIt INTRODUCTION. The monumental work undertaken and so ably begun by Maj. Charles E. Bendire has remained unfinished, and no additional volumes have been published since his death. In 1910 the author undertook to continue’ the work and began to gather material for it with the cooperation of American ornithologists. The follow- ing well-known ornithologists offered to help in gathering material from their several’ sections of the country: Harold H. Bailey, Walter B. Barrows, Allan Brooks, Earle A. Brooks, William L. Finley, Benjamin T. Gault, A Brazier Howell, Lynds Jones, Elmer T. Judd, Charles R. Keyes, Arthur H. Norton, Putnam B. Pea- body, T. Gilbert Pearson, Charles J. Pennock, Walter W. Perrett, Samuel F. Rathbun, Thomas S. Roberts, Aretas A. Saunders, Wil- liam E. Saunders, Witmer Stone; Myron H. Swenk, Charles W. Townsend, Edward R. Warren, and Arthur T. Wayne. | The Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture, at Washington, very kindly placed at my disposal its matchless biblio- graphical index to published material on North: American birds, and a mass of references were carefully copied by Mr. Edward A. Preble. With this and the author’s private index as guides nearly every publication of importance relating to North American birds has been consulted. While the scope of the work was originally intended to cover sub- stantially the same ground covered by Maj. Bendire’s work and in practically the same manner, it’ has since seemed best to some- what enlarge its scope and to cover more ground, withthe differ- ent phases of the life histories arranged in a more definite and uni- form sequence, so that the reader may more readily find the parts in which he is interested. The classification and nomenclature adopted by the American Ornithologists’ Union in its Check List have been strictly followed, regardless of the author’s views on the status of certain species and subspecies; as this is not a work on systematic ornithology, it has seemed best to merely refer to these views briefly in the text and not attempt to discuss them fully. The main breeding and winter ranges are as accurately outlined as limited ‘space will permit; the normal migrations are given in : : v VI INTRODUCTION. sufficient detail to indicate the usual movements of each species;g it is obviously impossible to give, in a general work of such large » scope, all records of occurrence and all dates and no pretense at © perfection in this direction is claimed. Many published records, im-{ possible to either verify or disprove, have been accepted if they are apparently within the known limits of ranges. The nesting dates are the condensed results of a mass of records accumulated from the data in over 60 of the largest egg collections in the country, as well as from contributed field notes and from many published sources. They indicate the dates on which eggs have been actually found in one or more portions of the. breeding range of the species, showing the earliest and latest dates and the limits between which at least half of the dates fall. The names of colors, when in quotation marks, are taken from Ridgway’s Color Standards and Nomenclature (1912 edition) and the terms used to designate the shapes of eggs, when in quotation marks, are taken from Ridgway’s Nomenclature of Colors (1886 edition). The heavy- faced type in the measurements of eggs indicate the four extremes of measurement. After a few introductory remarks where these seem desirable, the life history of each species is written in substantially the following /sequence: Spring migration, courtship, nesting habits, eggs, young, sequence of plumages to maturity, seasonal molts, feeding habits, flight, swimming and diving habits, vocal powers, behavior, ene- mies, fall migration, and winter habits. An attempt has been made to avoid repetition in dealing with subspecies. Although preference has been given to original unpublished mate- rial, so little of this has been received that it has seemed best to quote freely from published material whenever the life history could be improved by so doing. The author does not guarantee the correct- ness of any statements quoted, but has selected only such as seem to be reliable. Quotations from or references to published matter are in- dicated by a date in parentheses after the author’s name and the reference may be found by turning to the bibliographical index at the end of each part. Acknowledgments are due to many who have helped to make the work a success, by contributions and by sympathetic encourage- ment. Dr. Louis B. Bishop has contributed many hours of careful work in collecting from published material and other sources a mass of data needed for the distributional part of this work and has helped to tabulate and arrange it. He has also been very helpful to the author in his studies of plumages and has helped and encouraged him in many ways. Dr. Charles W. Townsend has furnished a lot of original contributions, has read over and corrected much of the manuscript and has written the entire life histories of the puffin ang INTRODUCTION. VII the great auk, in this part, and a number of others to be published in subsequent parts. Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain has sent us a valuable lot of egg measurements collected from eggs in the British Museum and in other foreign collections. Mr. J, H. Fleming has carefully re- vised and made valuable additions to the distributional part. of the work. Miss Marie H. Manseau rendered much valuable assistance in the preliminary work of reading and indexing published matter and in copying manuscript. The following American collectors have sent measurements of eggs in their collections: G. A. Abbott, R. M. Barnes, J. L. Childs, W. L. Dawson, C. S. Day, D. R. Dickey, C. E, Doe, J. H. Flanagan, F. S. Hersey, A. B. Howell, A. M. Ingersoll, Lieut. G. R. Meyer, J. P. Norris, jr., L. G. Peyton, J. H. Riley, R. P. Sharples, J. E. Thayer, and F, C, Willard. A great mass of nesting data has been contributed by practically all of those in the foregoing list and the following: E. Arnold; Egbert Bagg; L. B. Bishop; B. S. Bowdish; J. H. Bowles; W. C. Bradbury; A. W. Brockway; D. E. Brown; F. L. Burns; E. A. Butler; V. Burtch; J. P. Callender; H. W. Carriger; W. L. Chambers; D. A. Cohen; F. M. Dille; H. F. Duprey; O. Durfee; E. R. Ford; N. A. Francis; B. T. Gault; Geological Survey of Canada; I. C. Hall; H. S. Hathaway; R. G. Hazard; L. M. Huey; H. K. Job; E. M. Kenworthy; C. R. Keyes; J. and J. W. Mailliard; T. E, Mc- Mullen; Museum of History, Science, and Art, Los Angeles, Califor- nia; A. H. Norton; T. D. Perry; P. B. Philipp; E. F. Pope; A. E. Price; A. G. Prill; Provincial Museum, Victoria, British Columbia; J. B. Purdy; S. F. Rathbun; M. S. Ray; R. B. Rockwell; G. R. Rossignol, jr.; D. I. Shepardson; W. E. Snyder; F. Stephens; C. F. Stone; W. S. Strode; C. S. Thompson; A. O. Treganza; J. G. Tyler; University of California; A. Walker; E. R. Warren; A. T. Wayne; B. G. Willard; W. C. Wood; A. D. Dubois; I. E. Hess; A. R. Hoare; A. W. Honywill, jr.; L. B. Potter; H. J. Rust; S. S. S. Stansell; and J. Williams. Contributions of notes on habits or distribution have been received from the following: F. H. Allen, R. M. Anderson, B. W. Arnold, R. M. Barnes, W. S. Brooks, E. 8. Cameron, Frank S. Daggett, W. L. Dawson, Elizabeth Dickens, A. C. Dyke, C. W. G. Eifrig, W. O. Emerson, J. D. Figgins, W. L. Finley, G. L. Fordyce, C. A. Gianini, Jos. Grinnell, R. C. Harlow, W. F. Henninger, A. B. Howell, L. M. Huey, Lynds Jones, L. 8. Kohler, H. Lacey, W. deW. Miller, P. B. Peabody, C. H. Pease, E. F. Pope, R. B. Rockwell, A. A. Saunders, Mary C. Schanick, F. A. Shaw, F. Stephens, Cecile Swale, M. H. Swenk, P. A. Taverner, W. E. C. Todd, C. W. Townsend, M. B. Townsend, J. G. Tyler, W. L. Underwood, E. R. Warren, and L. E. Wyman. VIII INTRODUCTION. . The following have contributed photographs: American Museum . of Natural History, R. M. Anderson, Bird-Lore, W. 8. Brooks, E. S. Cameron, The Condor, W. L, Dawson, D. R. Dickey, W. E. Ekblaw, — W. L. Finley, Francis Harper, H. K. Job, Lynds Jones, F. E. Klein- r schmidt, D. B. MacMillan, C. F. Stone, J. E. Thayer, C. H. Towns- end, and Alex. Walker. All such photographs which have been used have been marked with the name of the photographer. : In the study of molts and plumages free access has been given to the collections of the American Museum of Natural History, the Bio- logical Survey, the California Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the United States National Museum, the Uni- versity of California, and the private collections of Louis B. Bishop, William Brewster, Jonathan Dwight, and John E, Thayer. Speci- | mens for study have also been loaned by Louis B. Bishop, William L. Finley, the Geological Survey of Canada, F. Seymour Hersey, | Lawrence M. Huey, and P. A. Taverner. The conclusions arrived — at regarding molts and plumages are based on a careful study of all this material, but even that, great mass of material proved lament- ably insufficient in many cases to arrive at entirely satisfactory con- clusions. di Mr. Charles E. Doe has kindly loaned us an egg of the whiskered auklet, and Col. John E. Thayer an egg of the Kittlitz’s murrelet for _ use in making the illustrations. . We are also indebted to the officials of the following institutions for a mass of data, taken from specimens in their collections, which has been useful in working out distributions and migrations: Bio- logical Survey, California Academy of Sciences, Carnegie Museum, Colorado Museum of Natural History, Geological Survey of Canada, United States National Museum, and University of California. With the consent of the American Museum of Natural History and Mr. Donald B. MacMillan, Mr. W. Elmer Ekblaw has sent us a full report of the ornithological results of the Crocker Land expedition. This generous contribution has enabled us to publish much new and interesting information regarding arctic bird life in advance of their own plans for future publication. For this exceptional courtesy my readers and I are very grateful. Furthermore, the American Mu- seum of Natural History has kindly placed at our disposal the entire collection of bird photographs made by members of this expedition, from which we have selected what we wanted to use. I am therefore indebted to them for the use of all photographs taken by Mr. Mac- Millan and Mr. Ekblaw. Much of the merit in the work is due to the untiring efforts of the author’s valued assistant, Mr. F. Seymour Hersey, who has spent many months in the field, often in remote localities, gathering speci- mens, photographs, and notes for use in this work. The distriby- ‘ INTRODUCTION. Ix tional part of the work was practically all done by him, with what assistance Doctor Bishop and the author could give him. No one who has not done work of this kind can appreciate the mass of detail to be handled and the expert knowledge necessary to handle it properly. Finally, thanks are due to the author’s devoted wife, Madeleine V. Bent, for many weary hours of painstaking work in typewriting, reading, and correcting manuscript and in proof reading. No one is so well aware of the many shortcomings and omissions in this work as the author. Allowance must be made for the magni- tude of the undertaking. If the reader fails to find mentioned in these pages some things which he knows about the birds, he can blame himself for not having sent them to Tue AUTHOR. Family Colymbids Western Grebe. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4&chmophorus occidentalis Habits. Distribution Colymbus Holbeelli__._.______-.-- Holbell’s Grebe Distribution Colymbus auritus. Horned Grebe Habits. Distribution Colymbus nigricollis californicus American Eared Grebe Habits. Distribution Colymbus dominicus brachypterus Mexican Grebe Habits Distribution Podilymbus Podiceps Pied-billed Grebe Habits. Distribution Family Gaviide Gavia immer. Habits. Distribution..=2---..---..---..5-2-..25 Gavia adamsi Yellow-billed Loon Habits Distribution Gavia arctica Black-throated Loon Habits Distributlon..=- 2 =~ 2s2se eee cee eee ete s teases Gavia pacifiea.--=-+- 5-555. seseesewacen wee) ens ee ee ed Pacific Loon__---~--- Gavia stellata Red-throated Loon Habits Distribution=== 02-22 esc ssc ceeee ee ees XII CONTENTS. Page. arly? Alt cio Ge lashes Sees ces 82 Duna. cirrhata.24.. ee ke eee eee eee EEE 82 Tufted Puffin See sn Bap ee ee ee ae ee 82 Habits =. 2 s222-s222 Gee sseosses : spaSaeeeeesoe ees 82 Distribution.w2cn 8 oso ee ee cee ee ce ee = 88 Fratercula arctica arctica____-_______________-___-_-_--_- ee -------- 89 Pui ss eens ee ee ee eee ee eS 89 Habits iste tao og SE Se es 89, : Toei a Ca nee eae eee 95 Fratercula arctica naumanni_____-_____-__----------------------- 96 Large-billed Puffin-__-____ Nera ae Aas rere ne OE TST 96 Habiterss cs. sho a eee ese ee Sees 96 Distribution. ==-ss22 0-22 54 et cee See ese ssetee T Fratercula corniculata _--------------------------- 97 Horned. “Puli = #2 2st eee seco e eset eee ate eo 97 Habits ssi oec sa See eS eee eo ee cet age Se eA 97 Distribution seeeeseewesseeeeeees= 108 Cerorhinca monocerata__.________--_--_----- 104 Rhinoceros Auklet___-.----_-__---_-_----__-__-_----- 104 Habits. —— eee ee eee 104 Distribution 2222222200002 onset ee see ee eee ese -- 109 Ptychoramphus aleuticus__---.-___---___-__-_-------_---__--_---- 110 Cassin’s Auklet io h tela tinh a hte oe Sea ees 110 Habits cas ao oe se a eg sa ea 110 Distribution aetna EN Rae ee . 116 Phaleris psittacula Sa Se eee ERI re FORNEY ae Ber ORE 116 PaO CUIeT: GA IED Of aa ea a -._ 116 Habits Ti aS Diy cee Rate 9a OS Roe alates 116 Distribution ee _ . 119 Aithia cristatella ats tahoe -—_ 120 Crested, Auklet 2s2225 522.5 bocesn tee ees se ee ee 120 Bs cee ah oo neue icc oun tae nine a emai 120 Distribution. .2..9..2 2+ 2 ee 124 Abthia: pyemes...=-—-- 2 = a ee 125 Whiskered Auklet__--__----------_____--_-.2___ eee nee 125 Ab US soo os oe occ SSeS ees oes ee eee --- 125 DistTibttlonsss2ss2 sooo. Se ee a SS 128 Althia pusiNg- ao - e se es ee teed 128 Least Auklet Elles trek Ste eth e shnteS 128 Habits wee Peete e cM e tine POR Distributions: see Seo a ee el et ie 132 Synthliboramphus antiquus Diese es SS 182 Ancient Murrelet. pea Ae A eS 182 Habits RS a a 132 Distributioneess. scsi suet eres ese ble oe eee 140 Brachyramphus marmoratus___-___-____------------------____ 141 Marbled Murrelet Eh Ie enc UE 141 Habits 2s aes cc eae she se dee sees ee 141 Distributlones2n222 222-222 ct een eee eee et ee 145 Brachyramphus brevirostris________--------------~--~-~--________ 146 Kittlitz’s Murrelet ~--------------------------------------~2- LLL 146 Habits oso 3 sea ee eee See eee eee eA eo ec 146 Distribution___--- References to Bibliography Explanation of Plates. Index. Family Alcidse—Continued. Brachyramphus hypoleucus CONTENTS. Xantus’s Murrelet. Habits. Distribution Brachyramphus craveri Craveri’s Murrelet__ Habits. Distribution Cepphus grylle Black Guillemot. Habits. Distribution Cepphus mandti Mandt’s Guillemot__ Habits Distribution Cepphus columba Pigeon Guillemot __ Habits. Distribution UDria troille troille Murre Habits. Distribution Uria troille californica California Murre Habits. Distribution 2 Uria lomvia lomvia Briinnich’s Murre. Habits Distribution Uria lomvia arra Pallas’s Murre_ WAGUIS poe tac Distribution Alca torda Razor-billed Auk Habits. Distribution Plautus impennis. Great Auk Habits Distribution 3 Alle alle. Dovekie Habits__ Distribution LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS, ORDER PYGOPODES. By Arruur Cieveranp Bent, of Taunton, Massachusetts. Family COLYMBIDA:. Grebes. 4ECHMOPHORUS OCCIDENTALIS (Lawrence). WESTERN GREBE. HABITS, Where the sweet waters of Bear Creek empty into Crane Lake the bare shores of a somewhat alkaline lake are transformed into a verdant slough. of tall waving. bulrushes surrounding a’small grassy island overgrown with scattering patches of wild rose bushes, a green oasis of luxuriant vegetation in the waste of bare rolling plains of southwestern Saskatchewan. Here is the gem of all that wonderful bird country, the center of abundance of breeding wildfow]; at least such was the case in 1905 when we found 25 species of water birds nesting in great profusion within an area less than a mile square, as if all had been crowded together in the most favorable locality. On the island we found 61 ducks’ nests in a few hours’ search, repre- senting 8 species; and in the slough surrounding it canvasbacks, red- heads, and ruddy ducks were nesting among the bulrushes and cat- tails. Numerous noisy shore birds were flying about, avocets, kill- deers, long-billed curlews, and, marbled godwits. Overhead were floating the characteristic gulls of the region, California and ring- billed gulls, common terns, and the beautiful rosy breasted Franklin’s gulls. But it was in the slough itself, amid the constant din of countless yellow-headed blackbirds, that we found the subject of this sketch with a few of its lesser brethren, the eared and the horned grebes, seeking seclusion in the winding aisles. of water among the tallest bulrushes and cat-tails. I shall never forget the picture, as I stood in water more than waist deep, of one of these beautiful “swan grebes” sailing out from a dense wall of cat-tails, causing scarcely a ripple as it glided along, the body submerged, the long white neck 1 2 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. sharply outlined against the green background, the glossy black © crown, the fiery red eyes, and the javelin-like beak. Who could help admiring such a picture of aquatic grace, such specialized mastery of 3 its native element? Its delicately poised head was ever alert, its keen red eyes were watching every motion and, as I moved one step - ‘nearer, the graceful neck was arched, the javelin beak plunged down- ward, and the. slim body; ‘followed ‘in’ a curve below the surface, leaving scarcely any wake behind it. ‘The water was clear and I was near enough to follow its course as it-sped away beneath the surface a long slender pointed craft, propelled by two powerful paddles and with wings tightly closed. The western grebe is certainly a water nymph of the first class, built for speed and action, the most highly specialized of all our diving birds. Courtship.—The western grebes reach their breeding grounds in the inland lakes during May, early in the month in North Dakota, about May 8 to 12 in southern Canada, and before the end of the month farther north. I have never witnessed their nuptial per- formances, but Mr. William L. Finley has sent me the following notes on the subject: The first action, which I have often noticed during the nesting season of the grebe, is when the two birds swim side by side. They throw the head and neck back which gives one the impression at a distance that the birds are preening their plumage. When I saw the action near at hand, I noticed that each. bird arched its neck continually, the bill turned straight down and the black crest spread. At the same time, both birds curved and swayed their necks back in a rythmical manner, touching them against their bodies. It was like a backward bow. ‘ A.second performance, the water glide of the grebe, was not as common as the antics just mentioned. However, it seemed to be a climax to the per- formance above, As.the two birds swam side by side both suddenly stood upright as if walking on the top of the water and rushed along, splashing the surface for 20 or 30 feet, with wings tight to the body. Then they dropped to their breasts in a graceful glide that carried them along for about 15 feet farther. tee The third performance might well be termed purely a wedding dance. I .Saw it three times within close range, and each time it was exactly the same. As two birds were swimming together, ‘both ‘dove. They rose to the top of the water a few moments later, each holding a piece of moss or weed in the bill. Instantly they faced each other and rose, treading water, with bodies half above the surface and necks stretched straight up. They treaded around, breast to breast, until they made three or four circles, and then dropped down to a normal attitude, at the same time flirting the moss out of their mouths and swimming off in an unconcerned manner. The first two performances are typical mating or courting antics, while the last is the most significant wedding dance I have ever seen in bird life. Nesting.—The Crane Lake colony, referred to above, was a typical, large colony of the plains or prairie region. I visited this colony . two years in succession and made several trips into the slough each U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ; BULLETIN 107 PL. 2 Reedy Lake, Saskatchewan. A. C. Bent. Reedy Lake, Saskatchewan. A.C. Bent. WESTERN GREBE. : FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 233. LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 3 season. It was almost impossible to count or even to estimate the number of western grebes in this colony, for the nests were scat- tered over a wide area among the reeds or bulrushes (Scirpus lacustris), and many of them were beyond our reach in water too deep to wade; there were certainly hundreds, and perhaps over a thou- sand of them. The nests were floating in water 2 feet deep or more and consisted of compact masses of rubbish, dead and rotten reeds, mixed with a few green flags, and plastered with soft slimy vege- table substances. They were generally anchored to growing bul- rushes in plain sight, but some were well concealed from view in thick clumps. They were built up from 3 to 5 inches above the water and measured from 18 to 25 inches in diameter, the inner cavity being from 7 to 9 inches in diameter. We were surprised to find the bodies of a large number of these grebes lying dead on or near their nests, during both seasons, and were unable to account for it; sometimes two bodies were found at one nest. Muskrats were quite common in this slough, and a pair of minks had a den on the island; perhaps the latter may have indulged in a midnight massacre. In another deep-water slough, near Crane Lake, we found a small colony of 12 or 15 pairs of western grebes nesting among the cat-tail flags (Z'ypha latifolia), where the nests were often well concealed in thick clumps. Although they were not so shy and retiring about their breeding’ grounds as the other grebes, I was never able to surprise a western grebe on its nest until one cold, rainy day when I waded into the slough and saw the birds sliding off their nests all around me, swimming away almost under my feet and bobbing up unexpectedly near me; the sun came out soon afterwards and I longed for my camera; I tried to repeat the experience later but never succeeded. Apparently they sit more closely in wet weather, but under favor- able circumstances do not find it necessary. Evidently both sexes assist in incubation. They seldom, if ever, cover the eggs with the nesting material as other grebes do. I once flushed a female ruddy duck from a clump of bulrushes, but a careful search revealed nothing but grebes’ nests and later I took from a grebe’s nest two eggs of the western grebe and an egg of the ruddy duck. The smaller grebes also occasionally lay an egg in a western grebe’s nest. In North Dakota the western grebes breed abundantly in some of the sweet-water lakes, generally in deep water and often among the tall canes and wild rice which grows 8 or 10 feet high. The extensive marshes of tall canes (Phragmites commumis) bordering the Waterhen River in Manitoba form a safe and almost inaccessi- ble breeding resort for this species where large numbers find a con- genial summer home. The water in these marshes is too deep to 55916—19—Bull. 107—-—2 4 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL. MUSEUM. wade and the canes are so thick that it is almost impossible to push a canoe through them. The few nests that we found were near the edges of small ponds or channels and well concealed in the thick growth; the nests were large and well-made structures of dry, dead canes, 2 or 8 feet in diameter and built up 6 or 7 inches above the water. The large grebe colonies of the Klamath Lake region in southern Oregon and northern California have been described by several well-known writers. The lakes in this region contain probably the largest western grebe colonies in this country where thousands of them breed in harmony with Caspian and Forster’s terns, white pelicans, and other water birds. This region has long been famous as a profitable field for plume hunters, where they have reaped a rich harvest, making $20 or $30 a day and during the height of the breeding season killing several thousand birds a week. The breasts of the western and other grebes were in great demand for the mil- linery trade; for the paltry sum of 20 cents apiece they were stripped off, dried, and shipped to New York, Such slaughter could not have continued much longer: without disastrous results. Through the activities of the Audubon Societies, the attention of President Roosevelt was called to the need of protection, and on August 8, 1908, he set apart the Klamath Lake Reservation, and on August 18, 1908, the Lake Malheur Reservation, thus saving from destruction the largest and most interesting wild-fowl nurseries on the Pacific coast. Mr. W. L. Finley (19072) has enjoyed good opportunities for studying the western grebes in these colonies and writes thus interestingly of their habits: Lower Klamath Lake is a body of water about 25 miles long by 10 or 12 miles wide. About its sides are great marshes of tules. The whole border is a veritable jungle, extending out for several miles from the main shore is an almost endless area of floating tule islands, between which is a network of channels. Here, where we found the nesting colony of western grebes, we had good chances to study the habits of these birds. About one of these islands we found the floating grebe nests every few feet apart, and counted over 60 in a short distance. We rowed up to one end and landed and then waded along just inside the thick growth of tules that grew along the edge. From this place, partly concealed as we were, we could look through the tules and see the grebes swimming and diving near their nests. Across the channel along the edge of the opposite island were many more grebe nests, and some of the birds were sitting on their eggs. The nests of the western grebes were, as a rule, built up of dry reeds higher out of the water than those of the eared grebe. I never saw a case where this bird covered its eggs with reeds before leaving them. Many times we saw them sitting on their eggs during the day. In other cases. they seemed to leave the eggs to be hatched out partly by the sun. The usual number of eggs we found in a set were 3 and 4, although we often found 6 and 7. In several cases, we found places among the dry tules where an extra large set of eggs had been laid. We saw 16 eggs in one set, but there had been no attempt at a nest, and the eggs had never been incubated. L. 3 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 107 P Reedy Lake, Saskatchewan. A. C. Bent. L Klamath Lake, Oregon. Finley and Bohlman. WESTERN GREBE. FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 233, LIFE HISFORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 5 £'9g8.—The number of eggs to a set seems to vary greatly, though -3 or 4 seems to be the usual number, according to my experience; I have frequently found 5 or even 6, and I have taken one set of 11, but this was probably laid by 2 or 8 birds. Other writers report various numbers from 5 to 10. Apparently there are certain nests in which eggs are dumped indiscriminately by several birds, but never hatched. Other marsh-nesting birds, such as terns, ducks, and coots, occasion- ally drop their eggs in the grebes’ nests. The eggs of the western grebe are not handsome and not particu- larly interesting. They vary in color from dull bluish white or cream color to various shades of dirty buff or olive buff. They are unspotted, but the accumulated dirt on the rough shells often gives them a mottled effect, even after being washed. They are generally more or less nest-stained and are often plastered with mud or cov- ered with bits of nesting material. The shell surface is always dull and lusterless and sometimes lumpy. In shape they vary from “ ellip- tical ovate” to “cylindrical ovate.” The measurements of 53 eggs in the United States National Museum average 58 by 37.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measures 65 by 87.5, 61.5 by 40, and 50 by 34 millimeters, Young.—tThe period of incubation is about 23 days. In Saskatche- wan I have found downy young, recently hatched, as early as June 8, but the majority of eggs do not hatch until the last of June or early in July of that region. The young are graceful little fellows with long necks and small heads; they are quite precocious and they can swim and dive soon after they are hatched. Mr. Finley (19072) writes in regard to them: On two or three different occasions, we watched une of the little western grebes cut his way out of the shell and liberate himself. The wall:of his prison is quite thick for a chick to penetrate, but after he gets his bill though in one place, he goes at the task like clockwork and it only takes him about half an hour after he has smelled the fresh air to liberate himself. After the first hole, he turns himself a little and begins hammering in a new place and he keeps this up till he has made a complete revolution in his shell, and the end or cap of the egg, cut clear around, drops off, and the youngster soon kicks himself out into the sunshine. It does not take his coat long to dry; in fact, he often does not give it a chance, for his first impulse seems to be to take to water and ride on his mother’s or father’s back. The grebe chick never stays in the nest longer than a few hours. A chick that is just hatched is clothed in the most delicate coat of soft gray fur, lighter below and darker on top. The first day, as I lay hidden in the tules waiting for a picture, I saw a pair of grebes swimming along only 20 feet distant. I could catch glimpses of them as they passed just beyond their nest. One of the birds carried a chick on its back. The grebes have a way of taking their young with them, for the little fellows lie on the back just under the wing coverts with only their heads sticking out. At the slightest alarm the mother raises the feathers a trifle and covers the chick completely. One can readily tell when a grebe has a 6 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. chick on her back even if it is not visible, because she generally swims higher in the water. As I was lying low in the reeds, another pair of grebes swam past. The back of the one bird was high out of the water. She was carrying two young, but at the time neither was visible. But soon one of the youngsters got anxious to crawl out on the hurricane deck, as it were. Each time his head appeared, the mother would reach back and cover him up. Finally one of the little fel- lows crawled clear out in full view and she let him sit there for a moment. But I could see this was not the customary way of riding, for she soon raised her wing and covered him. Occasionally she picked up bits of something from the surface and reaching back fed her babies. A little later, while the father was swimming near by, I saw one chick ‘slip off the mother’s back and go paddling toward him. He seemed to lower his body slightly in the water and the youngster floated aboard. The old grebes dive and swim readily under water with the young on their backs, but occasionally when they are frightened they lose their chicks. Sev- eral times while we were rowing about the lake we came unexpectedly upon old grebes carrying young. At such times, when the old birds are scared, it seems very difficult for them to hold the chicks in place when they dive. In most cases the young birds come to the top of the water after the mother dives. When we approached the little fellows they tried to dive, but could not stay under long or go very deep, so they were easily caught. Plumages.—The downy young of the western grebe is entirely dif- ferent from the young of any other American grebe; its plain, un- spotted coat suggests a closer relationship with the loons than with the other grebes. It is covered with short, thick down, as soft and smooth as silk velvet. The upper parts are “light mouse gray” in color, darkest on the back, lighter on the crown and shading off to “pallid mouse gray ” on the neck and sides and almost to pure white on the belly; there is a triangular naked spot on the crown. The young grebe retains its soft downy covering as it increases in size, and it is nearly fully grown before its first real plumage is assumed. There is no distinctive juvenal plumage, and the first winter plumage is not strikingly different from that of the adult. The young bird in the fall is dark gray or dusky instead of black on the crown and hind neck; the line of demarcation is not so sharply drawn between the dark crown and the white throat, and the feathers of the back are edged with grayish white. A partial prenuptial molt in the spring produces the black crown of the nuptial plumage and the light edgings on the back disappear by wear. In this first nuptial plumage adults and young are practically indistinguishable. The seasonal changes of the adult are not conspicuous, for the fall plumage is much like the nuptial plumage; the black of the crown is duller and less clearly defined in the fall. There is a complete post- nuptial molt in July and August, during which the wing quills are all shed simultaneously and the bird becomes incapable of flight. A partial prenuptial molt, involving mainly the head and neck, produces the nuptial plumage. LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 7 Focd.—Very little seems to be known about the food of the west- ern grebe, but it probably lives largely on fish and other aquatic animals. Prof. John Macoun (1909) mentions a specimen “that had an amphibian (Ambdlystoma navortiwm) 104 inches long in its stomach.” It has been known to feed on aquatic grasses, and on the seacoast it pursues the schools of small herring. It has a peculiar habit, which has never been satisfactorily explained, of filling its stomach with great wads of its own body feathers. Dr. Frank M. Chapman (1908) says on this subject: Possibly the adults may swallow the feathers secured through their fre- quent preening, but I am at loss to understand why chicks not more than 3 days old should have their stomachs tightly stuffed with a ball of their par- ents feathers. In the stomach of one I found a compact wad of 238 feathers, and in another there were no less than 331. Behavior—This grebe, like others of its family, experiences con- siderable difficulty in rising from the water, but when once under way it is a strong and rapid flyer. It is a curious looking bird in flight, with its long neck and slender body stretched out in a straight line, with big feet dragging behind and small wings vibrat- ing at high speed. It could not be mistaken for anything else, for it is in a class by itself. Col. N. S. Goss (1889) writes: The birds ride the water lightly, and their silky plumage, slender build, long-waving necks, and graceful carriage can but attract the attention of the most indifferent of observers. Like all of the race they are expert swimmers and divers, and can quietly sink out of sight in the water without an appar- ent motion, but their ordinary manner of diving is to spring forward with a stroke of their feet, almost clearing the water and disappearing about 3 feet from the starting point. They are at home on the waves, and it is almost impossible to force the birds to take wing, but when in the air they fly with great rapidity, with neck and feet stretched out to their full extent, and in alighting, often do not attempt to slacken their speed, but strike the water with partially closed wings with a force that carries them on the surface from 20 to 40 feet. It has always been difficult for me to separate the notes of the western grebe from the grand chorus of sounds in a thickly popu- lated slough, teeming with yellow-headed blackbirds, coots, and other water birds, but as nearly as I could learn, it has two dis- tinct notes, a shrill piping whistle, suggesting the whistling alarm note of the osprey, and a short, rolling croak in a subdued tone. Doctor Chapman (1908) says: The swan grebe’s voice is a loud, double-toned, whistled ¢-r-r-ee-er-r-r-ee, which can be heard distinctly when the bird is beyond reach of the eye in the open waters of the lake, and even a poor imitation of this far-reaching call brings the lakes of the prairie or plain more clearly before me than the memory of the note of any other of their bird inhabitants, 4 8 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. Mr. W. L. Dawson (1909) describes it as “a voice, high and broken, like nothing else perhaps so much as the creak of a neglected pulley block.” He says that the notes of the two sexes are different. Winter.—During the latter part of September the western grebes migrate to the Pacific coast, where they spend the winter in large numbers, from Puget Sound to Lower California and Mexico, both on the seacoast and in the larger lakes. They often gather into large flocks, sometimes numbering several thousands, and wander about, following the movements of the fish on which they feed and which they are expert in catching. DISTRIBUTION. Breeding range—Western North America, particularly the prairie regions. East to central Manitoba (Lake Winnipegosis, Lake Mani- toba, and Shoal Lake), east central North Dakota (Devil’s Lake region), central eastern South Dakota (Hamlin County), and Ne- braska (Garden County). South to northern Wyoming (Lake De Swet), central Utah (Utah Lake), and southern California (Mystic Lake, Riverside County). West to central western California (Lake Merced, San Francisco County), central Oregon (Klamath Lakes), and central western British Columbia. North to central British Columbia (Stuart Lake, Cariboo district), northern Alberta (near Edmonton), and north central Saskatchewan (Quill Lake). Noted in summer, but not found breeding, in Arizona (near Yuma) and southern California (Santa Barbara and San Diego). Winter range.—West and south of the Rocky Mountains, mainly on the Pacific coast. East to central British Columbia (Okanagan Lake), western Washington (Olympia), western Nevada (Pyramid Lake), southwestern Arizona (Gila River), and northern Mexico (Chihuahua). South to southern Mexico (Pueblo and Jalisco). West to the Pacific coast of Mexico and the Ynited States. North to southern British Columbia (Vancouver Island) and northern Washington (Puget Sound region). Spring migration.—Northward along the Pacific coast starting in April. Lower California: Colnett Bay, April 7-8. California: Santa Cruz Island, April 24 to May 2; Salton Sea, April 19. Wash- ington, Steilacoom, April 21; Lake Chelan, May 11; Columbia River, May 19. British Columbia: Elko, Bayne Lake, May 2; Stuart Lake, May 6; Vancouver Island, April 24 to May 6. Northeastward across the Rocky Mountains early in May. Nevada: Washoe Lake, May. Montana: Great Falls, May 9. Alberta: Banff, May 8. Saskatchewan: Indian head, May 12 to 30. Fall migration—Southwestward across the Rocky Mountains. Wyoming: Douglas, October 13. Colorado: Vicinity of Denver, Octo- ber 25 to November 28. Arizona: Gila River, November. LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 9 Southward along the Pacific coast: British Columbia: Van- couver Island, September 28; Sumas, November 2. Washington: Cape Disappointment, September; Puget Sound, October 10 to 12. Oregon: Near Corvallis, October 24. California: Mono Lake, Sep- tember 2 to 21; Monterey, arrives September 25. Mexico: Jalisco, La Barca, October 2. Casual records.—Kansas: Lawrence, November 3. Minnesota: May. Iowa: Blackhawk County, spring. Wisconsin: Lake Kosh- konong, January 4. Indiana: Indianapalis, September. Ohio: Near Youngstown, October 28 to 30. Ontario: Lake Huron at Sarnia. Other Ontario and Quebec records are holboelli. Alaska: Near Dixon Entrance, May 28. Yukon Territory: Teslin Lake. Octo- ber 21, Egg dates—North Dakota: 46 records, May 18 to July 9; 23 rec- ords, May 28 to June 10. Manitoba and Saskatchewan: 13 records, June 7 to 26; 7 records, June 8 to 16. Oregon and Washington: 11 records, May 20 to July 2; six records, May 30 to June 12. Utah: 8 records, May 20 to June 15; 4 records, May 22 to 25. California: 6 records, May 20 to June 23; 3 records, June 1 to 8. COLYMBUS HOLBCELLI (Reinhardt). HOLBGLL’S GREBE, HABITS. The extensive, deep-water marshes about the southern end of Lake Winnipegosis, intersected by numerous sluggish streams or dotted with many small, shallow ponds, all of which are full of fish or other forms of aquatic life, furnish ideal breeding grounds for this and other water fowl. The banks of the Waterhen River, which flows northward from Lake Winnipegosis into Waterhen Lake, are broadly lined with many miles of tall golden canes swarm- ing with bird life of various kinds; countless yellow-beaded black- birds are busy with their nesting in the densest canes or clinging to the tops of the swaying stalks and pouring out their ceaseless chatter ; Franklin’s gulls or black terns are flying overhead with gentle notes of protest; various species of ducks are swimming in the creeks and pond holes; and the graceful western grebes glide in and out among the canes where their nests are hidden. Here the shy Holboell’s grebe breeds in abundance, probably more abundantly than anywhere else throughout its extensive range; though it is so seldom seen that one does not realize how common it is until a systematic search is made for nests. Waterhen River and the lake into which it flows are said to have been so named on account of the abundance there of this species, although the name “ waterhen,” or “poule d’eau,” is applied to any of the grebes or coots. 10 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. Nesting.—Throughout the month of June, 1918, we found a great many nests of this grebe in various localities in this region. Al- though it frequented the vicinity of the same swamps, 1n which the western grebes and horned grebes were breeding, we did not find any nests of Holbecell’s grebe actually in the canes (Phragmites com- munis). All of the nests we found were in more open situations and were more or less widely scattered. On June 7 we found, what might almost be called a colony, seven nests, in an extensive tract of short, dead, broken-down flags and reeds which extended out into the lake for a hundred yards or more near the entrance to the river. As the water was 3.or 4 feet deep, I had to work from a canoe.and _ , experienced some difficulty in photographing the nests; for, with the tripod standing in the water, the camera was but little above the surface. Even in such an open situation the nests were surprisingly inconspicuous and it required the practised eye of my guide to locate most of them. They were generally placed where the broken-down reeds (Scirpus lacustris) were thickest and often where they were so matted together that it was difficult to push a canoe through them. They were low, flat, carelessly built structures, raised but slightly above the surface, in which the eggs were wet and almost awash, and were made of dead and rotten reeds and flags, water mosses, algae and other drift rubbish. The eggs were usually wholly or partially covered with the nesting material. During several visits to this locality I saw but one Holbeell’s grebe near its nest and only occasionally in the distance; though I lay in wait for them for a long time at some little distance in the canes. It is certainly one of the shyest of the water birds. Its hearing must be very acute; for only rarely could I surprise one in the marshes, when it would disappear instantly. What few birds I saw were generally swimming at a distance, singly or in pairs, often far out on the lake, where they always dove long before I could get within gunshot range. Only once did I succeed in surprising one on its nest and get a fleeting glimpse. Mr. Herbert K. Job had located a nest in a little cove on a nearby pond; we approached it cautiously, paddling silently around a little point and into the cove; we were just in time to see the grebe stand up in the nest, hastily attempt to cover the eggs, glide off into the water, and disappear in the reeds so quickly that we could hardly realize what had happened. This was a larger, better built, and probably a more typical nest than those described above; it was floating in water about 3 feet deep and anchored near the edge of growing flags (Typha latifolia) and reeds (Scirpus lacustris); it measured 24 inches in diameter, the inner cavity was 6 inches across and slightly hollowed, and the rim was built up 2 or 8 inches above the water; it was made principally of dead reeds and flags, with a few green stems of the same, matted U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 107 PL. 4 Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba. . A.C. Bent. Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba. A. C. Bent HOLBCLL'S GREBE. FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 233 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 11 together with a mass of algae and water mosses; it was lined with well-rotted flags. Throughout the greater portion of its breeding range the Hol- boell’s grebe is a widely scattered, solitary species. It breeds to some extent in the sloughs and marshes of the northern plains and prairie regions, but is more universally common in the marshy lakes and ponds in the timbered regions of northern Canada, where one or two pairs only are usually found in each of the smaller lakes. Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1900) found this grebe breeding quite com- monly in the delta of the Kowak River, Alaska, in June, 1899, where nearly every pond or lake was the home of a single pair. He de- scribes what might be considered its courtship performance as fol- lows: We had just moored our steamer to the river bank and I was pushing my way among the willows back toward a strip of spruces when I wus startled by a series of most lugubrious cries from directly in front of us. After a moment’s hesitation I concluded it must be some species of loon, although I had never heard such a note before. Advancing as quietly as possi- ble I came upon a small lake which was almost surrounded by spruces and margined on my side with willows. I could see nothing on the surface for some minutes. A loon would surely have shown himself during that time. Suddenly the curious cries broke forth again, and there within 20 yards of me, in a thin patch of grass growing near the shore, were two grebes resting on the water. They both took part in the “song,” though the voice of one was notably weaker than that of the other. One of the birds would start with a long wail and then the other would chime in with a similar note, both winding up with a series of quavering cries very much like the repeated whinnies of a horse. During these vocal demonstrations the neck would be thrown forward and the head and bill tilted upward at an angle of 45°. During the performance the birds were nearly facing each other, but at the conclusion one, presumably the male, would slowly swim around the other. A slight movement on my part spoiled this interesting scene, for both birds instantly disappeared beneath the water, leaving scarcely a ripple. Finally I barely discerned the head and neck of one near a snag in the dark reflection of the opposite shore. He says of its nest: The nest consisted of a floating mass of sodden marsh grass, a foot in diam- eter. It was anchored among standing grass in about 2 feet of water. It was 20 feet from the shore on one side and about the same distance from the edge of the ice, which still existed in a large floe in the center of the lake. The top of this raft of dead grass presented a saucer-shaped depression, which was 2 inches above the surface of the surrounding water. The eggs lay wholly un- covered and could be plainly seen from shore. Mr. P. M. Silloway (1902) found a small colony of Holboell’s grebes in Swan Lake, Montana, where he located five pairs of the birds and collected seven sets of eggs on dates ranging from June 4 to 20, 1902. The nests were located in an extensive growth of buck brush and reeds which lined the margin of the lake and covered a marshy area of about a square mile. Most of the nests were placed 12 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. among the reeds and made of the usual materials. Two of the nests were among the back brush, where the water was over 2 feet deep; in one “the material was piled upon coarse twigs of buck brush, appar- ently brought up from the bottom”; the other “was made on de- pressed branches of the bushes, a large, strong mass of decayed reeds with some new: material intermingled in the top.” Mr. Edmonde S. Currier (1904) refers to a colony of from 6 to 10 pairs which he found breeding in Leech Lake, Minnesota, in 1902 and 1908. One nest was high and dry on a muskrat house—a hollow in the side of the house, and about 10 inches above the water. The muskrat house was in a patch of tall canes, growing in deep, open water, forming a small island. The other nests were similar in situation, style of architecture, and material used. They varied only in size, and this depended upon the time the birds had been laying. Nests containing only one egg were simply irregular piles or rafts of floating flags soft and rotting, with the egg often awash and covered with foam. In more advanced sets the nests formed quite a mass of material, with a deep cup above water line. No birds were seen on the nests, or leaving them, but in 1902 I saw one swimming away from a patch of canes in open water that contained a nest. £ggs.—The Holbeell’s grebe raises only one brood during the sea- son, but if the nest is robbed a second set of eggs is promptly laid. The set generally consists of four or five eggs; sometimes three are considered enough; six eggs are occasionally laid and rarely seven or even eight. The eggs resemble closely those of other grebes in general appearance and vary greatly in size, so that it is not always easy to identify them. In shape they vary from nearly “ ovate” to “elliptical oval,” “elongate ovate” or to nearly “ fusiform.” The color of the clean, freshly-laid egg varies from pale bluish white to “cartridge buff,” but the color, which is never quite pure, soon becomes partly or wholly obscured by muddy, dirty, nest- stains and the egg is often plastered over with mud and bits of nest material, giving it a dark mottled appearance. Much of this can be ~washed off, but the stains seem to be indelible. The measurements of 60 eggs, in the United States National Museum, average 53.7 by 384.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 64.5 by 37.5, 49 by 33, and 50.5 by 30 millimeters. Young—The period of incubation proved to be 22 or 23 days for eggs of this species which we hatched out in our incubators. The young are very precocious and can dive and swim instinctively soon after they have hatched. As soon as they are able to feed and to swim about they may be seen riding in safety on their mother’s back as she swims about the lake, clinging to her plumage when she dives and coming to the surface with her, as if nothing had happened. It is said that the mother bird turns her head and feeds the young PL. 5 BULLETIN 107 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM H. K. Job. Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba. S. 8. S. Stansell. Alberta HOLBCLL'S GREBE. FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 233, . LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 13 while riding on her back. Then soon learn to dive and to feed them- selves on small fish, insects, aquatic worms, and vegetable matter. Plumages.—The downy young show considerable variation in color patterns, but in a general way they may be described as prac- tically black above when first hatched, fading to blackish brown or seal brown as the chick increases in size; this color includes the sides and crissum, leaving only the belly pure white; the head and neck are broadly and clearly striped, longitudinally, with black and white; the chin and throat are often spotted with black but are some- times clear white. There is usually a distinct white V on the top of the head, starting on the forehead, above a superciliary black stripe which usually includes the eyes, and terminating in broad white stripes in the sides of the neck; there is also a median white stripe or spot on the crown and the back is, more or less distinctly, marked with four long stripes of dull white or grayish. The lighter stripes, especially on the head and neck are often tinged with buffy pink. This downy covering is worn until the young bird is more than two-thirds grown, the colors becoming duller above and grayer below. The first real plumage is acquired early in September, dark above and white below, as in the adult, but signs of youth are re- tained in the head and neck, both of which are more or less striped with black and white on the sides; the neck is also more or less rufous. I have a specimen in this plumage taken November 15, but I have other specimens taken in November and December, appar- ently young birds, which have lost all traces of the stripes and the rufous neck. The stripes always disappear during the fall or early winter, but the reddish neck is often retained until the young bird acquires its first nuptial plumage. This closely resembles the adult nuptial plumage but the colors are duller and not so pure; the chin and throat are whiter, the red of the neck is mottled with dusky, the crown is browner, fading gradually into the mottled cheeks; the sharply defined color pattern of the head, so conspicuous in the adult, is very much obscured in the young birds. At the first post- nuptial moult, when the bird is a little more than a year old, I think that old and young birds become indistinguishable, although I am not sure that another year is not required to accomplish this. The postnuptial or summer moult is complete and is prolonged through August and September. The adult fall plumage is charac- terized mainly by the absence of red which entirely disappears from the neck and breast and is replaced by a white breast and a dusky neck; the pale gray of the chin, throat, and cheeks is sharply defined against the dusky neck, as it is against the red neck in the spring; young birds have no such sharp line of demarcation; the crown is also darker than in young birds. I have seen one specimen, No. 15994 14 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. in the collection of Dr. Jonathan Dwight, in nearly full nuptial plumage, collected November 25, but I can only regard this as an exceptional case of retarded or suspended moult. A partial prenup- tial moult occurs early in the spring involving mainly the plumage of the head and neck and producing the clearly defined black crown, gray cheeks, chin and throat and the brilliant red neck and breast of the nuptial plumage. I have seen specimens in which this moult was complete before the end of February and others in full winter plumage in March; I think the moult usually. occurs in April. Food.—Holbeell’s grebe feeds to some extent on small fish or min- nows which it obtains by diving, but its food consists largely of other things and it can live perfectly well in lakes where there are no fish at all. In the lakes of Manitoba it lives largely on crawfish, ambly- stomae, and aquatic insects; its bill of fare also includes various aquatic worms, insects, and their larve, small crustaceans, fresh water mollusks, tadpoles, and some vegetable substances. An adult bird caught on the ice near my home was fed on small live shiners which it ate readily. Mr. Robert J. Sim (1904), who made a care- ful study of a captive Holbell’s grebe, gives the following account of its feeding habits: On the second day I placed a 4-inch wild fish (shiner?) in a dish filled with water. This was set on the floor in front of the bird. He gave the fish a slight poke whereupon it swam around violently. Making a quick thrust he caught it, grasping it crosswise with the bill—not impaling it. The fish then went through a course of pinching from head to tail, being hitched along from side to side in the bill. It was then turned about and gulped down head first. Later in the day three out of four strips of raw whitefish were eaten, each about the size of a man’s finger. These the grebe bruised and shook until small fragments flew several feet around. At this time of the year live food was scarce, but we succeeded in finding a few small aquatic animals. By the 27th of February the grebe had eaten—all voluntarily—the following: 10 live goldfish (2 to 5 inches long), 2 pieces raw steak (taken from water), 1 4-inch wild fish, 2 large tadpoles, and 7 medium sized dragon-fly larve. In swallowing the large goldfishes the bird’s jaws seemed to be distended laterally, and he gulped so violently that the back of his head struck his back with a hollow “tunking” sound. This operation apparently jarred the fish past the sticking point. When very hungry the grebe swallowed the fishes alive. Of the crawfishes offered him only the small or soft ones were eaten, and no great relish was shown. Earthworms, when their season came, were eaten with avidity, but raw beefsteak (lean) was the principal article of diet with the bird during his stay with us. The stomach of this bird is sometimes wholly or partially filled with feathers. Behavior—In flight Holbeell’s grebe is easily recognized in any plumage; its size is distinctive, being halfway between a loon and one of the smaller grebes; in the full nuptial plumage the red neck and gray cheeks are conspicuous if the bird is near enough to see LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 15 them, or at a greater distance the pure white under parts and white wing patches show up in marked contrast to the black upper parts; young birds in the autumn can be recognized by their size, shape, and white wing patches, as the horned grebes are much smaller and the loons have no white in the wings. Its general appearance is de- cidedly loonlike, with its long neck stretched out in front and its large feet held together straight out behind to serve as a rudder for a tailless bird. It can not rise off the ground or ice at all and is frequently caught in consequence. It can rise readily from the water, like a duck, but not without considerable pattering along the sur- face, beating it with wings and feet. When well under way its flight is swift, strong, direct, and well sustained. When migrating -along the Atlantic coast I have always seen it flying singly and not more than a few feet above the water. It is a strong and rapid swimmer and like all of its tribe a splen- did diver. It usually prefers to escape by swimming rapidly away if the enemy is not too near, but, in the latter case, it dives like a flash, so quickly that it is useless to try to shoot one if it is watching. When undisturbed and not hurried it makes a graceful curving plunge, leaving the water entirely and going straight down with its wings closed probably it can dive to a greater depth in this way than in any. other. It can also sink gradually downward until only its head is above water or go swimming off among the reeds with only its bill and eyes showing. When really alarmed it goes under water with astonishing rapidity, so quickly that we can not see how it is done, but it is probably accomplished by a sudden kick and forward dive. Mr. Aretas A. Saunders writes me that he watched a pair of these birds— diving and evidently feeding under water. . I timed them to see how long they stayed under, and, after several observaticns of both birds, found the time to be almost uniformly 55 seconds in every case. The time was so exact that I could tell when a bird dove just when to expect it to reappear. Mr. Sim (1904), in describing the habits of his captive bird, says: In ordinary swimming the feet struck out alternately. The tarsi extended downward and outward. In diving the bird was not observed to spring for- ward in the common grebe manner, but rather let himself down very quickly as though drawing his head back through a hole. When it was below the surface I could scarcely realize that the creature before me was a bird, so slender was he and so swiftly did he dart about and shoot through the tangle of aquatic vegetation. It was amazing. The wings were entirely covered by the feathers and the feet struck out simultaneously at the sides, far astern. Their movements could scarcely be followed. 16 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. Mr. Alvin R. Cahn (1912), who had an excellent opportunity to study this species at close range through an opening in the ice of Cayuga Lake, describes its movements under water as follows: The water was clear, and the bird could be seen plainly, shooting and zig- zagging about, midway between the surface and the bottom. While swimming under water, the neck is extended to its utmost, and both legs and wings are used. With neck outstretched, the bird offers the least possible resistance to the water, there being a smooth and gradual transition from the tip of the slender bill to the middle of the back, the widest part of the body. The speed which is developed under water is marvelous, at times it being almost impos- sible to follow its movements, which were so rapid that the bird appeared more like a large, gray fish darting about. When coming to the surface the bill and head appeared slowly, when a glimpse of the observer caused it to dive again. In diving, even though the body was under water, the bill went down first, so that it really dove instead of sinking quietly. On its breeding grounds Holbeell’s grebe is often seen swimming about in pairs in marshy ponds or on the lakes. When undisturbed it swims quite buoyantly with its head drawn down on its folded neck, much as a duck swims, occasionally rolling over on its side to wash and preen its plumage or pointing its bill up in the air to give its loud weird call. But on the slightest scent of danger it sinks until its tail is below the surface, its back is awash, and its head is stretched up to watch and listen as it swims rapidly away. Should a human being approach within a hundred yards of the shy creature, it is gone for good; if on a large lake, it swims quickly away under water and appears again only in the dim distance; if near a marsh, it seeks shelter in the reeds and does not show itself again. Human intimacy is not encouraged by this vanishing water sprite. One beautiful moonlight night in June, as we lay at anchor near some Manitoba marshes, I had a good chance to study the love song of this interesting bird. The night was calm and the mosquitoes made sleep impossible, as we lay rolled in our blankets on the deck of our little boat, listening to the varied voices of the marsh. The activities of life in the marshes do not wholly cease at sundown; birds are very active and noisy during the hours of twilight or all night long when there is bright moonlight; even on dark nights hardly an hour passes without some vocal signs of life. This night seemed particularly favorable, quiet and cool after a long hot day. The Franklin’s gulls and black terns which were feeding over the marshes in the cool of the evening kept up their restless beating long after it seemed possible for them to see their insect prey. The chat- tering of bronzed grackles and Brewer’s and red-winged blackbirds, as well as the rhythmic chants of the yellowheads quieted down at dusk; but their notes were frequently heard all through the night as the birds awoke to change their positions on their insecure roosts in the reeds. The long rolling diminuendo call of the sora rails and LIFE HISTORIES.OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 17 the horse gutteral creaks and grunts of the coots, with many varia- tions, furnished the necessary accompaniment to the chorus. But the real striking features of the concert, the solo parts, were the weird cries of the Holbeell’s grebes, heard only at infrequent inter- vals. The performance begins with a series of loonlike wailing cries, loud and piercing at first, and then runs off into a series of short, plaintive, vibrating wails, “ah-oo0, ah-oo0, ah-ooo, ah-ah-ah- ah-ah;” sometimes it ends in a more staccato, chattering trill and might be indicated thus: “whaaa, whaaa, whaaa, whaaa, whaaa, chitier-r-r-r-r-r-r.” There is considerable variation in the length and form of the song in different individuals. The love song of the Holbeell’s grebe may be heard at any time during the day or night.” but it is indulged in more freely in the early morning and toward the dusk of evening. Mrs. Lizzie T. Burt described the notes of an adult bird, which was captured on the ice near my home on February 14, 1918, as loud trumpetings, suggesting the cries of the loon and resembling the sound made by what is known as a Gabriel’s horn on an automobile. This grebe has several other notes, one of which is aptly described by Mr. Silloway (1902), as follows: It is a coarse, prolonged nasal quonk, the nasal quality being most pro nounced, the intonation being very suggestive of the braying of a donkey. Indeed, the natives call this grebe the ‘“ jack driver,” and anyone famfliar with the nasal volume of tone produced by C. holboelli will readily admit the appropriateness of the popular name. : Mr. W. L. Dawson (1909) refers to its notes as follows: Owing to the furtive habits of the various swamp dwellers, it is often diffi- cult to distinguish notes, but I have attributed a harshly raucous cawack, awwack caawwrrack heard in June upon the Pend d’Oreille River to this species. It is generally similar to the yark of the horned grebe but has several times the volume. Mr. Allan Brooks (1903) says that in British Columbia, where both species are abundant, the Holbeell’s grebe “wages incessant war upon” the horned grebe, “the large birds diving and coming up beneath the smaller ones time and again to the terror of the poor little fellows, who often desert their nests in consequence.” It must be a formidable foe with such a sharp and powerful beak. When once it has passed the downy young stage it must be well able to defend itself and escape from its enemies. Fall.—During the migrations I have always found this grebe to be a solitary species, but, according to others, it seems to be more or less gregarious at times. Mr. John Macoun (1909) speaks of “large flocks seen on Prince Edward Island, August 7, 1888.” On the Pacific coast it more often congregates in flocks on the migra- tions and during the winter, though I doubt if it actually flies in 18 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. flocks. In its winter quarters on the coast of Washington Mr. W. L. Dawson (1909) associates this species with the “ characteristic bird population which stretches along at just a little more than gunshot range from shore,” when he finds it “almost invariably numbered with this shifting, distrustful company of sea fowl, pigeon guille- mots, buffleheads, mergansers, and scoters.” Winter.—All through the fall, winter, and spring these grebes are fairly common on the New England coast, where they may be seen riding the waves just off shore, feeding in the shoals just beyond the breakers, in company with loons, horned grebes, golden-eyes, scoters, and red-breasted mergansers. It is interesting to watch them with a “powerful glass as they dive through the breakers, where their move- ments can sometimes be plainly seen through the face of an incom- ing wave. As Holbeell’s grebe is inclined to winter somewhat in large inland lakes, it is sometimes caught by the freezing of lakes which are usually open. Mr. Alvin R. Cahn (1912) has published the following acount of his experience with it on Cayuga Lake, New York, in Feb- ruary, 1912: The freezing of Cayuga Lake offered a rare opportunity for a study of this most interesting and apparently little known bird. Until the present time, the Holboell’s grebe has been considered only a rare visitant at the southern end of the lake, one or two being recorded almost every winter. It has proved, however, to be the predominant grebe during this winter, 28 individuals having been taken. The reason of its unprecedented abundance here is undoubtedly to be found in the six weeks of extremely cold weather, and the consequent closure of waters in other regions. The sudden closing of the lake’s surface in one night left these birds in an absolutely helpless condition, since open water is a necessity for taking flight in this group of birds, Holbeell’s grebe being no exception to the rule. As a result, 11 beautiful specimens were picked up alive from the ice in perfectly good physical condition. If approached while sitting on the ice, these birds made no attempt to escape. They would strike at the outstretched hand, and would emit calls very loonlike in general quality. Once the bird alights upon the ice, it is unable to take flight, and must await starva- tion or other tragic end. At best, all it can do is to flap its wings and possibly scrape along over the ice a few feet. The position of the legs, together with the smooth surface of the ice, rendered these efforts at locomotion entirely futile. A bird (referred to above) was caught on the ice near Taunton, Massachusetts, on February 14, 1918; it would undoubtedly have starved to death, as it was unable to rise off the ice. On December 27, 1909, a bird was brought to me which was caught in a yard in the city of Taunton, having been bewildered by a thick snowstorm and become exhausted. There are numerous other similar records. DISTRIBUTION. Breeding range—Northern North America and northeastern Asia. East to northern Ungava and Hudson Strait. South to LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 19 southern Labrador, southwestern New Brunswick (St. Croix River and St. Andrews), probably parts of Quebec and Ontario, central western Minnesota (Grant County) and North Dakota (Turtle Mountains and Sweetwater Lake). West to northwestern Montana (Swan Lake), central northern Washington (Okanagan and Chelan Counties) and northwestern Alaska (Selawik Lake, coast of Nor- ton Sound and Yukon River). North to northeastern Siberia (Saghalin Island and Marcova and Gichiga, Anadyr District), Yukon Territory (Forty Mile) and northern Mackenzie (Fort Anderson, Nahanni River, and Peel River). Occasional in summer south of its breeding range. New Jersey (Englewood, June), New Hampshire (Kingston and Newton, birds seen from May 15 to August 5, with young July 2 to August 1) and Washington (Bellingham Bay). Maine breeding records are con- sidered erroneous and Labrador nestings are open to doubt. Winter range.—Mainly on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. From eastern Maine (Washington County) and west central New York (Cayuga Lake) south to North Carolina; casually to Georgia (St. Marys) and Tennessee (Reelfoot Lake). From southern British Columbia (Okanagan Lake and Vancouver Island, Victoria) and western Washington (Puget Sound region) south to southern Cali- fornia (Santa Barbara). Also on the Great Lakes: Lake Ontario (Toronto), Lake Erie (Near Ashtabula, Ohio), Niagara Falls and Lake Michigan (near Chicago, Illinois). Wintering records from the interior are few and unsatisfactory. Recorded in winter from the Pribilof Islands (St. Paul), Aleutian Islands (Unalaska), Ko- diak Island, and Japan. Spring migration—Along the Atlantic slope the birds start northward in April. Pennsylvania: Warren, April 18. New York: April 21 to May 30. Connecticut: Long Island Sound, May 3 (latest). Rhode Island: May 2 (latest). Massachusetts: May 24 (latest). Maine: April 24. Hudson Strait: June 20 (arriving). On the Pacific coast and through the interior late in April or early in May. British Columbia: Douglass, April 20 to May 10. Southeastern Alaska: Forrester Island, May 3 to 10; Kuiu Island, April 25 to May 6; Admiralty Island, May 7; Heceta Island, May 24. Western Alaska: Bristol Bay, May 30. Indiana: Park Side, April 29. Michigan: Greenville, March 12. Ontario: Toronto, April 24 to May 1; Lake Nipissing, May 10. Alberta: Edmonton, May 10; Lily Lake, May 13 and 14. Mackenzie: Fort Providence, May 25. Fall migration—Southward along both coasts and through the interior. Mackenzie: Blackwater River, October 8. Northwestern ‘Alaska: St. Michael, September 22 to October; Kuskokwim River, October 10; Nushagak, October 12. Commander Islands: Novem- 55916—19—Bull. 107. 3 20 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. ber 24. Central Alaska: Fairbanks, October 7%. Southeastern — Alaska: Silver Bay, September 21; Sitka, October. Yukon Terri- tory: Teslin Lake, September 28. British Columbia: Yellowhead Lake, August 28 to September 2; Sumas, October 12. California: Lake Tahoe, September 6. Aiherta: Athabaska Landing, Septem- ber 15; Edmonton, October 16. Maine: Umbagog, October 24. Ontario: Ottawa River, October 16 to November 25; Toronto, Octo- ber 21 to 31. Montana: Lubec, September 25 to 27; Gallatin County, October 17. Casual records—The type was taken in Greenland; where the species occurs casually. Egg dates—North Dakota and Minnesota: 93 records, May 23 to July 16; 12 records, May 31 to June 13. Manitoba: 17 records, May 27 to August 1; 8 records, June 2 to 11. British Columbia and Washington: 9 records, May 13 to July 1; 5 records, May 29 to June 18. Alberta: 8 records, May 24 to June 21; 4 records, June 38 to 17. COLYMBUS AURITUS (Linnaeus.) HORNED GREBE. HABITS. A long drive over the prairies of North Dakota brought us to the home of our host and guide, Mr. Alfred Eastgate, in a picturesque spot by the side of a little pond surrounded by trees and shrubbery. It had been an eventful day, May 30, 1901, my introduction to the fascinating bird life of the western prairies. Everything was new, strange, and interesting, possessing that peculiar charm which a naturalist experiences only on his first day in an entirely new region. We had stopped several times to explore the timber belts, teeming with small birds, and to examine nests of goldeneyes and ferruginous roughlegs. I had made the acquaintance of at least a dozen new birds and had learned to see other familiar species in a new light as I met them in their summer homes on the prairies and in the sloughs. In the little pond by the house were a pair of beautiful horned grebes, resplendent with their full nuptial plumage and their great fluffy heads; with them were two pairs of blue-winged teal, a pair of shovelers, and several lesser scaup ducks; a noisy pair of killdeers were running along the shore and several ring-billed gulls and black terns were flying overhead. The grebes had recently ar- rived on their breeding grounds and were busy with their courtships and preparations for nest building; their weird and striking notes were heard frequently all through the evening and it was a fitting ending to such a delightful day to be lulled to sleep by the love song of the horned grebe. Nesting.—This pair built their nest in this little pond, but we went away before the eggs were laid and we did not find any more PL. 6 BULLETIN 107 NATIONAL MUSEUM Ss. U. A. C. Bent. Saskatchewan. Crane Lake, A.C. Bent. HORNED GREBE. Crane Lake, Saskatchewan. FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 233, LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 21 nests of this species that season, although they are not uncommon in that region. The horned grebe is nowhere abundant, but it is widely and evenly distributed all through the northern prairie re- gions. In Saskatchewan I recorded it as uncommon in 1905 and rare in 1906, though we found a few nests each season. I found two nests on June 7, 1905, in the Crane Lake slough within a short distance of the western grebe colony. The first nest was well con- cealed in the middle of a clump of tall reeds (Scirpus lacustris) and was floating in water about knee-deep. It was made of wet rotten reeds and rubbish and measured 10 inches in diameter outside and 7 inches inside; it contained five eggs, which were only about 2 inches above the water. The second nest was in a more open situation but was similarly constructed; it contained nine eggs and was some- what larger than the first nest, measuring 13 by-12 inches in outside diameter. In the Magdalen Islands, in 1904, we found a few pairs of horned grebes nesting in the small ponds near East Point, where, even as late as June 22, the sets were incomplete or perfectly fresh. A nest, found wth one egg in it on the 18th, now held three fresh eggs; probably more would have been laid as the eggs were covered and the bird was not incubating; this would seem to indicate that an egg is laid every other day. The nest was a floating mass of dead and green flags, mostly the latter, mixed with soft aquatic mosses and algae; I could pass my hands completely under it and lift it without materially disturbing its floating capacity; it was partially secured from drifting by being anchored to the dead stalks of a scanty, open growth of flags (Typha latifolia), in water about 18 inches deep. It was in perfectly plain sight, and even conspicuous at a long dis- tance, as were all of the nests of this species in that locality, for the broken-down flags of last year’s growth, offered little concealment; later in the season the new growth of flags would probably have hidden it. This nest measured 14 inches in outside diameter, but the inner cavity was only about 4 inches in diameter. The grebes were very tame and swam slowly away, watching us intently within gun- shot range. I have always found this species very bold and_con- spicuous, in marked contrast to the pied-billed grebe, which is very seldom seen near its nest. I was much impressed with the striking beauty of a handsome male that we shot; it had the most beautiful eye that I have ever seen in any bird, brilliant scarlet, finely veined and penciled, with an irregular ring of yellow around the pupil, gleaming like fire in its setting of soft velvety plumage, The nests are made of whatever soft vegetable substances are easily available, mixed with mud, and are usually more conspicuous than those of the pied-billed grebe. The grebes themselves are gen- erally much more in evidence than the dabchicks, making identifi- 22 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. cation much easier. The horned grebe covers its eggs when it leaves them, but incubates regularly; it is not particularly shy and has been photographed on its nest; it is not easily driven from the vicinity of its nest, and will soon return to it if given a good chance. Eggs—The eggs of the horned grebe are absolutely indistinguish- able from those of either the eared or the pied-billed grebes. In shape they vary from “elliptical ovate” to “elliptical oval.” The shell is fairly smooth with very little luster. The ground color is dull bluish white or pale olive white, which is generally more or less, and often wholly, concealed by a deposit of mud and dirt or by nest stains which will not disappear with washing. The set usually con- sists of 4 or 5 eggs, but sometimes 3 eggs are incubated and some- times as many as 9 or 10 are found in a nest; perhaps these large sets are laid by more than one bird. If only one brood is raised in a season, there is a great variation in the dates, but Dr. P. L. Hatch (1892) has suggested that as the young “have been seen swimming with the parent as early as the first week in May, and at the ten- derest age as late as the 3d of August,” there may be two broods raised occasionally. The measurements of 45 eggs, in the United States National Museum and the author’s collections, average 44 by 30 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 47.5 by 29.5, 46 by 31.5, 40 by 29 and 43 by 28 millimeters. Plumages.—The downy young is almost black above, striped and spotted with grayish white; there is a median white stripe on the occiput and a white V on the forehead, extending down the sides of the neck in broad irregular stripes; the sides of the head, neck, and throat are white tinged with “salmon buff” and spotted with dusky; the under parts are white and the sides dusky. The young can swim ‘and dive like experts soon after they are hatched. They develop rapidly and soon acquire the juvenal or first plumage, which is worn through the late summer and into the fall; it is similar to the first winter plumage, but is characterized by the dusky stripes and spots on the sides of the head and throat. These dusky markings disappear during the fall and the young birds become similar to the adults. Young birds in the first winter can be distinguished by the light edgings of the feathers of the backs, by the lighter and browner plumage in the crowns, and by the smaller or lighter colored bills; adults have clear black crowns, the cheeks are usually purer white, the plumage of the heads is more fluffy, and the bills are larger and blacker. The prenuptial molt apparently includes the entire head and body plumage, and young birds are indistinguishable from adults after the first spring. The spring molt usually occurs in April, sometimes a little earlier or later, but it is usually completed before the middle of May. Birds in full nuptial plumage have been taken BULLETIN 107 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PL. A. C. Bent. Magdalen Islands, Quebec. J. M. Schreck. HORNED GREBE. Alberta. FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 233, LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 23 as far south as South Carolina and they are not uncommon on the Massachusetts coast; but even here most of the birds migrate north before the molt is complete. The complete postnuptial molt occurs in the later summer and early fall, but is often not completed before October or later. j Food.—One of the horned grebe’s favorite articles of food is small fish, which it is quite expert at chasing and catching, as it darts about swiftly and skillfully under water, catching them unawares and pur- suing them at full speed. While living on the coast in winter it feeds on shrimps, minute crustaceans, and salt water minnows. On inland waters it eats a large proportion of animal food, such as small frogs, tadpoles, aquatic lizards, leeches, beetles, and other insects. It also feeds to some extent on grasses and other vegetable matter. Audubon (1840) speaks of having found large quantities of grass seeds in the stomach of this grebe. Mr. W. L. McAtee (1912) has made an ex- haustive report on the food of this species, as follows: The most remarkable point about the food habits of grebes is that the stom- achs almost invariably contain a considerable mass of feathers. Feathers are fed to the young, and there is no question that they play some essential though unknown part in the digestive economy. As they are finely ground in the giz- zards it is probable that finally they are digested and the available nutriment assimilated. Feathers constituted practically 66 per cent of the contents of the 57 horned grebe stomachs examined. However, it is not likely that they furnish a very large percentage of the nourishment needed by the birds. As the nutri- tive value of the feathers is unknown, this part of the stomach contents is ig- nored. The other items of food are assigned 100 per cent, and the percentages are given on that basis. Various beetles, chiefly aquatic, compose 23.3 per cent of the food ; other insects (including aquatic bugs, caddis and chironomid larvae, dragon-fly nymphs, etc.), nearly 12 per cent; fishes, 27.8 per cent; crawfish, 20.7 per cent; and other crustacea, 13.8 per cent. A little other animal matter is taken, including snails and spiders, and a small quantity of vegetable food was found in two stomachs. Behavior—the flight of the horned grebe is strong, direct, and well-sustained; it looks, when on the wing, much like a miniature loon. Its neck and its legs are stretched out to their full extent, fore and aft, and its wings vibrate very rapidly. In winter it is difficult to distinguish from the eared grebe, but it can be easily distinguished from the pied-billed grebe by the absence of brown in its plumage and by its white secondaries, which are very conspicuous in flight. Its wings are small in proportion to its weight, so that it experiences some difficulty in rising from the water or from the ground; in rising it has to run along the surface for a long distance, beating the water with both wings and feet; but, when well under way, it attains very good speed. When migrating it usually travels singly or in small scattered flocks. Along the New England coast we frequently see horned grebes migrating, with the scoters in October, a mile or two offshore; often several are in sight at one time, but I have never seen 24 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. them in anything approaching a flock. Throughout the interior, where they are more numerous, they seem to fly in flocks. Audubon (1840) mentions a flock of 30 which alighted near him in a pond, and states that they migrate in flocks, flying high in the air and following — the courses of streams. The horned grebe swims buoyantly and rapidly, using its feet alter- nately; it also has the power of sinking below the surface and swim- ming with its body partially or wholly submerged and with only its bill protruding. Coues (1877) and some other observers seem to think that this is accomplished by so regulating its respiratory processes that its body is increased or decreased in bulk; he cites the following instance to illustrate it: Once holding a wounded grebe in my hand, I observed its whole body to swell with a labored inspiration. As the air permeated the interior, a sort of ripple or wave passed gradually along, puffing out the belly and raising the plumage as it advanced. With the expiration the reverse change occurred from the op- posite direction, and the bird visibly shrunk in dimensions, the skin fitting tightly and the feathers lying close, I have always supposed that grebes and some other water birds had the power of regulating their displacement, and consequently their floating and sinking ability, by their control of their plumage, compressing the feathers of the body to reduce the displacement and expanding them to increase it; the above incident, cited by Coues, seems to be open to this interpretation as well as any other. This grebe is just as good a diver as the rest of its tribe. Mr. E, Howard Eaton (1910) says: I have often seen it remain under water for three minutes and cover a distance of at least 30 rods at one drive. Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1905) has well described its diving power, as follows: The diving of this grebe is often a beautiful piece of work. The bird springs vigorously upward and forward, the bill cleaves the water on the downward curve just as the feet leave it, while the whole body describes an arc. The wings are closely applied to the sides, and do not flop out as in the Alcidae, where they are used for flight under water. In the grebes the feet are the propelling power in the forceful initial spring and in the movements below the water. That the wings are kept close to the sides under water I have been able to observe when the grebes were borne up in the advancing rollers on Ipswich Beach. The clear water before the waves broke revealed the diving birds. The full beginning of the dive, as described above, is often curtailed in all degrees, so that the head is below water before the feet emerge, or the jump is lost entirely, and the bird disappears suddenly with a vigorous kick, or mysteriously and quietly sinks in the water. The duration under water de- pends somewhat on its depth as well as on the abundance of food there. Thus a grebe close to the rocks stayed under from 30 to 35 seconds, while the same bird a short distance out was under water from 45 to 50 seconds each time. They often remain below the surface longer than this. LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 25 The love song of the horned grebe is a wonderful combination of weird, loud, striking notes, difficult to describe, but, when once heard, it will never be forgotten; it consists of a series of croaking and chattering notes, followed by several prolonged piercing shrieks; it seems remarkable that such a volume of sound can come from so small a bird. At other times it is usually silent. Prof. Lynds Jones (1909) says: When the numbers are so great that large companies are found there is a perpetual conversational undertone decidedly pleasing in quality, accompanied by a sort of play among the birds. Mr. W. Leon Dawson (1909) says that— they raise a curious far-sounding note of complaint, keogh keogh, with a nasal twang or more sharply, keark keark, or even yark yark. Winter.—In its winter haunts on our coasts the horned grebe is commonly seen singly, or in small flocks, just outside the breakers along the beaches or near the rocky shores, diving for its food, playing about in the waves, or riding buoyantly over them; occasion- ally one is seen asleep with its bill tucked under its scapulars. Often it is more gregarious, particularly on inland lakes, where sometimes as many as 150 to 200 are seen in a flock. When alarmed the whole flock suddenly disappears, all diving in unison. They are said to hunt in flocks, at times, after the manner of mergansers, chasing schools of small fry which are more easily caught in this way. Individuals which linger too far north are sometimes caught by the freezing of lakes and perish for lack of food. DISTRIBUTION. Breeding range.—Northern parts of the northern hemisphere. In North America east to southwestern Ungava, eastern Quebec (Mag- dalen Islands), southwestern New Brunswick (Milltown) and east- ern Maine (Washington County). South to southern.Ontario (St. Clair Flats formerly), southern Wisconsin (Lake Koshkonong) and northern Nebraska (Cherry County). West.to southern British Co- lumbia (Ashcroft, Okanagan and Kamloops) and northwestern Alaska (lower Yukon and Norton Sound). North to central Alaska (Yukon River at Nulato and Fort Yukon), Yukon Territory (near Herschel Island) and northern Mackenzie (60 miles southeast of Fort Anderson and Athabaska-Mackenzie region, north nearly to border of forest) and Keewatin (Fort Churchill). Recorded during summer south of the normal breeding range in Massachusetts, Con- necticut (Melrose, July 26; Litchfield County, supposed to have bred in 1906) and Indiana (Sheffield). Michigan breeding records doubt- ful. In the Old World the species breeds in Iceland, northern Scot- 26 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. land, northern Europe (south to Denmark and Gottland Island in the Baltic Sea) and throughout Siberia. Winter range.—In North America mainly within the United States and principally on the seacoast. From central New York (Tioga County) and coast of Maine, south to Florida (Lake Wimlico and Amelia Island). West along the Gulf coast to Louisiana. From southern British Columbia (Okanagan Lake and Vancouver Island) and northwestern Washington (Bellingham Bay) to southern Cal- ifornia (along the coast and casually inland). Has been recorded as wintering in the Pribilof and Aleutian Islands (Unalaska) and southeastern Alaska (Sitka). In the interior winter records are mostly from the region of the great Lakes; Ohio, northern Indiana, Illinois (Lake Michigan), southern Ontario (Lake Ontario) and Michigan. Outside of North America the species winters in central and southern Europe south to the northern coast of Africa and the Azores, In Asia south on the coast of China and Japan to the Tropic of Cancer. Spring migration—Northward along the Atlantic slope, during April and early May. South Carolina: Second week in April. Dis- trict of Columbia: Washington, April 17. New Jersey: April 14 to 23 (latest May 3). New York: Arriving March 20 to April 10, de- parting middle of May. Connecticut: Long Island Sound, May 3 (latest). Massachusetts: May 6 (latest). Maine: Leave late in April. Northward along the Pacific coast and through the Rocky Moun- tain region. California: Santa Cruz Island, April. Oregon: Netarts Bay, March 9 to 21. British Columbia: Elk River, April 22. Wy- oming: May 15. Alberta: Lily Lake, May 18; Athabaska Landing, May 12. Athabaska River: Fort McMurray, May 14. Yukon Ter- ritory: Fort Reliance, May 14; Forty Mile, May 20. Southern Alaska: Kuin Island, April 28 (arriving) ; Prince of Wales Island, May 10-14. Alaska: Lower Yukon at Nulato, last of May. Northward through the interior. Kansas: April 15 to 80. Iowa: April 19. Illinois: Chicago, April 12 to 27. Ohio: Cedar Point, March 25 to April 21; Waverly, April 20 to 28. Michigan: April 12 to 23. Minnesota: April 23. Fall migration.—Southward along both coasts and through the interior. Ungava: Koksoak River, September 15. Maine: Arrive September. Massachusetts: October 1 (earliest). Connecticut: Sep- tember 12 (earliest). New York: Arrive October 10. New Jersey: October to November. Virginia: Dismal Swamp, October 9. South Carolina: October 25 (earliest). Florida: Hillsboro County, Octo- ber 28. Ohio: Waverly, September 17 to October 24; Oberlin, ar- LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 27 rives October 1 to 15, departs November 25. Iowa: November 11 (latest). Kansas: September. Northern Alaska: Norton Sound, leave the middle of October. Southeastern Alaska: Valdez Narrows, September 18; Admiralty Island, September 24. Mackenzie: Mac- kenzie River, October 8. Yukon Territory: Forty Mile, September 20; Teslin Lake, October 17. Washington: Blaine, October. Oregon: Netarts Bay, September 9. Idaho: Saw-tooth Lake, September 25 to October 4. California: Mono Lake, September 2 to 21; San Benito County, October 14. Casual records.—Has been recorded from Greenland, Herschel Island River, Yukon Territory, the Bermuda Islands, and the Com- mander Islands, Egg dates——North Dakota: 14 records, April 6 to July 7; 8 records, June 4 to 25. Manitoba and Saskatchewan: 11 records, May 31 to July 7; 6 records, June 8 to 10. Alberta and British Columbia: 9 records, May 20 to July 7; 5 records, June 4 to 17. Ontario, and Quebec: 9 records, May 28 to June 27; 5 records, June 4 to 21. Nebraska : 2 records, June 29 and August 12. COLYMBUS NIGRICOLLIS CALIFORNICUS (Heermann). AMERICAN EARED GREBE. HABITS. The little eared grebe is widely and evenly distributed throughout western North America; from the Great Plains west to the Pacific coast and in most of the inland marshy lakes it is an abundant spe- cies. It seems to me that the name American should be retained, as our bird is well established as, at least subspecifically, distinct from the European eared grebe. Courtship.—During the spring migration in May the birds are busy with their courtships. Mr. Aretas A. Saunders writes to me that all the birds he saw on the spring migration in Montana were in pairs and that they are evidently mated when they arrive on their breeding grounds. Mr. W. L. Dawson (1909) has gracefully de- scribed their activity at this season as follows: It has been a blazing day, for June, ‘even in the Big Bend country, but now the sun has sunk behind the Cascades and the earth has already begun to exhale the fresh odors of recovering darkness. Most birds have properly tucked head under wing, and even the nighthawks are less feverish in their exertions; but not so with the eared grebes. It is the magic hour of courtship, and near and far from the open water or its weedy margins sounds the mellow poo-eep poo-eep of these idyllic swains. The sound is given deliberately with a gently rising inflection, but seems to vanish into silence at the end with a sort of saber-like flourish. Now and again some Romeo, more ardent than his mates, bursts into an excited hicko rick up, hicko rick up, hicko rick up. The 28 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. birds spread freely all over the lake irrespective of their nesting haunts, and so numerous are they that at times they maintain a chorus of the volume and persistency of that furnished by a first-class frog pond in March. Nesting —In the shallow, marshy lakes of the western plains the eared grebe breeds in extensive colonies, populous thickly settled communities, which my companion, Mr. Herbert K. Job, used to call “cities of the submerged tenth.” None of the other small grebes breeds in such large or such densely populated colonies, in which it is often impossible to pole a canoe, or even to wade, without over- turning the nests. Often times there are only narrow lanes of water, through which the inhabitants may come and go to their respective, domiciles; yet they never seem to quarrel in the narrow streets or experience any difficulty in finding their own homes. When disturbed, by human intrusion, they slip off their nests into the water, often without diving and swim out into the lake, where they gather in a large flock and quietly watch proceedings. They are always in evidence about their nesting colonies and are not nearly as shy as the pied-billed grebes. The pied-billed grebe nests in small scattered colonies and the horned grebe usually singly or in widely separated nesting sites. Neither of them ever nests, so far as I know, in dense colonies like the eared grebe. Moreover the nests of the eared grebe are almost always in open situations, whereas the nests of the other two species are usually more or less concealed in some kind of vegetation. The nests of the eared grebe are also smaller and less elaborately built than those of the pied-billed or the horned grebes. Mr. B. F. Goss (1883) gives us a very good illustration of this, as follows: The eared grebe breeds in communities. The first colony that I found was in a small lake in northern Dakota. The nests were built on floating débris about 15 rods from shore, where the water was perhaps 3 feet deep. Old flag leaves, rushes, reeds, etc., had been driven by the wind into the point of a bay, forming a mass 2 or 3 inches deep and several square rods in extent. This mass was firm enough to hold up the birds in most places, but was full of holes where they could dive through. There were at at least 25 nests on an area of 10 by 20 feet. They were made of partly decayed moss and reeds brought up from the bottom, and were small, not more than a handful of material to a nest. Mr. A. W. Anthony (1896) describes a colony in southern Cali- fornia as follows: Halfway down the lake the marsh grass was found to extend in a broad band entirely across from shore to shore, and the water was of a uniform depth of about 18 inches. Forcing the boat into the grass, which reached a foot or more above the water, we found a number of small circular openings 100 feet or more in diameter, each fairly covered with nests of the eared grebe. As we came upon the first colony, dozens of grebes, all in beautiful nesting plumage, were seen on their rafts of floating grass, each frantically endeavoring to reach enough moss to cover her eggs before diving out of sight to appear . 8 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 107 PL North Dakota. H. K. Job. Saskatchewan, A. C, Bent. EARED GREBE. FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 233, LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 29 again out in the open water. And numerous chicks just from the egg dove hastily out of sight and escaped in the thick grass. So close together were the nests that often three or four sets could be taken without moving the boat. Most of the eggs were so far advanced in incubation that they were not taken, e put by selecting the cleanest sets and testing them by putting them in the water we secured about 75 sets, about 60 of which were saved in fair condition. The sets ranged from 1 to 5 (mostly 3) while those found at the other end of the lake were from 6 to 10. The nests exhibited surprising regularity and not a little ability on the part of the architects. The rafts all consisted of a number of stems of the long marsh grass, laid in the form of a triangle, with the ends crossed to keep them from floating apart. A second triangle was Jaid across the first so as to make a six, or often a five, pointed star, between the points of which several stems of grass were left growing acting as a mooring, and so preventing the nest from floating away. In the center an open space was left, in and over which was built the nest itself, which was a mass of mud and moss brought up from the bottom (apparently). A hollow in the center which contained the eggs usually also contained an inch of water, as the nests were almost submerged. Mr. Robert B. Rockwell (1910) says of the nesting habits of the eared grebe in Colorado: The eared grebes’ nests were easily distinguishable by the flimsy and ap- parently careless manner in which they were constructed, being very slight, straggling platforms of large, rank, green dock stems, cat-tails stalks, rushes, weeds, and grass, usually floating in comparatively open water, or in very sparse growths of cat-tails, with no apparent attempt at concealment. The nests were very flat, the nest cavity often being actually below water level, and the eggs in most cases being wet. How these eggs with damp shells retained enough heat either from the parent or from the sun’s rays to hatch them, is a problem which I have been unable to solve. And as a matter of fact quite a perceptible per cent of old nests examined contained addled eggs. On June 12, 1905, while exploring an extensive breeding colony of Franklin’s gulls in a marshy lake, near Crane Lake, Saskatchewan, I found a large number of eared grebes scattered about among the gulls’ nests and well concealed in the thick growth of bulrushes (Scirpus lacustris) with which that end of the lake was thickly over- grown. The nests were the usual small floating masses of rotten reeds, water mosses and other vegetable rubbish, with which some of the eggs were wholly or partially covered; the nests measured from 12 to 14 inches in diameter externally and 5 to 6 inches internally ; the eggs were not more than 2 to 8 inches above the water, usually less. Dr. T. S. Roberts (1900) relates a similar experience: This colony of Franklin’s gulls has as associates and intimate neighbors many coots, pied-billed grebes, black terns, a few Forster’s terns, and, most notable of all, because so unexpected in this place, a colony of American eared grebes (Colymbus nigricollis californicus). There were a hundred or more of these latter birds and they had established themselves in the very midst of the gull colony. Their nests, which were the very poorest structures that could be called by such a name, were disposed in two or three principal groups, 30 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. were close together, and were intimately mingled with the gulls’ nests. Per- haps because they had drifted, some of them rested directly against gulls’ nests, but they had not been abandoned. The nests were partially submerged plat- forms of green vegetation pulled up from the bottom and were without even as much form and stability as is usually possessed by the rude structure of® the pied-billed. The eggs were half under water, and it seemed a marvel how they stayed on the loose platforms at all. They were only imperfectly covered. These grebes, unlike their pied-billed relatives, stayed close by their nests and for the most part on them. When driven off they all swam rapidly away in a body and circled around at a safe distance, only to return immediately as soon as the coast was clear. In clambering up onto these frail nests they tipped and nearly sank the whole affair, but it nevertheless afforded sufficient support for them to lie for hours basking in the sun, often on one side, with the head held awkwardly up, and one leg waving clear of the water—a curious attitude, which it took us some little time to make out in detail with the aid of our glasses. E£ggs.—The American eared grebe lays from 3 to 9 eggs and raises but one brood in a season; the usual set consists of 4 or 5 eggs and the larger numbers are proportionately rare or perhaps the work of more than one bird. The eggs are absolutely indistinguishable from those of either the horned grebe or the pied-billed grebe; there is no constant difference in size, shape, or color. The shape is usually “ovate” or “elliptical ovate,” but some eggs are more elongated to “elongate ovate” or nearly “fusiform.” The ground color, when first laid, is bluish or greenish white, but it soon becomes permanently stained, from contact with the nest, until the eggs show a variety of shades of buff or brown colors, which will not wash off. The eggs are often more or less covered with mud or bits of vegetable matter, which can be removed by washing. The measurements of 55 eggs, in the United States National Museum, average 43.5 by 30 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measures 47 by 30.5 45.5 by 32, 39 by 29, and 43 by 27.5 millimeters. Morris (1903) gives the period of incubation as about three weeks for the European bird and Yarrell (1871) says that both sexes incu- bate; probably either of these statements would apply equally well to the American bird. Much discussion has arisen over the question whether grebes incubate their eggs or leave them to hatch from the heat generated by decaying vegetation in the nest or by the warmth of the sun’s rays. It seems hardly likely that sufficient heat could come from the decaying vegetation in the nest, as the nests are always wet and the water in which they are built is usually cold during the nesting season; I have never been able to detect any appreciable warmth in the nesting material and have often noticed that the eggs were warm on top, as if they had recently been left by a sitting bird, and cold on the under side where they came in contact with the wet nest; the reverse would be true, if the nest supplied the heat. Grebes, particularly of this species, have frequently been seen incu- @ LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 31 bating by many observers. I believe that they all incubate regularly, particularly at night and during inclement weather. The eggs are covered with the nesting material purely for concealment. I have no doubt that on bright, warm days the eggs are frequently left for long periods, when the heat of the sun helps to continue the hatching process; perhaps on very hot days the covering of wet rubbish may protect the eggs against too intense heat. There are numerous cases on record where eggs have been killed by too much heat, during a pro- tracted hot spell. Mr. William G. Smith reported, in his notes sent to Major Bendire, two such cases in Colorado, where the thermom- eter registered 108 in the shade during the nesting season; the nests which were in open situations suffered most severely; he said that during the heat of the day the birds did not seem to be able to sit on their nests in the hot sun and ‘practically all of the eggs were destroyed. Young.—Mr. Robert B. Rockwell (1910) gives us the following good account of the behavior of young grebes: A baby grebe half the size of a chick can swim as fast as a man can wade through the water comfortably, and the distance they can swim under water at this tender age is surprising. They hide very effectively by diving and coming up to the surface under tiny bits of floating moss or rubbish, where they lie perfectly still with only the tips of their tiny bills exposed above the water. Their feet are abnormally large, which probably accounts for their remarkable swimming ability, and when quiet in the water the feet and head float on the surface, the rest of the body being submerged. The only note of the young grebe is very similar to the “ cheep” of the domestic chick, first heard when the egg is pipt—very weak and tiny at first, but growing in strength and power as the bird becomes larger, until by the time the young are three-fourths grown the note is quite loud and clear. The young birds have a peculiar habit of riding on the back of the parent birds. This is apparently done for the purpose of imaginary protection to the young, as we only observed it when broods of young were surprised close to the shore, and were seeking safety in the middle of the lakes. At such times the parent would swiin close alongside the young bird and by raising the fore part of the body out of the water would submerge the posterior portion, upon which the youngsters would scramble with alacrity. The wings of the parent were then raised something after the fashion of a brooding hen, and -often several babies would be cuddled comfortably beneath them. It was quite comical to see a well-laden parent bird attempt to take on an additional chick, as this often precipitated the entire brood into the water, and this was always the signal for a wild scramble back on “ board ship,” during which rather strenuous performance the doting parent was the victim of an animated mauling. This additional weight on the parent’s back did not seem to affect their swimming powers, and the speed with which a mother grebe carrying a half a dozen babies could leave danger behind was surprising. Plumages.—The downy young is glossy black on the back with a few brownish or grayish longitudinal stripes anteriorly; the head is dusky, more or less striped or spotted with whitish; the under parts 32 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. are white, becoming dusky on the sides and tinged with pinkish buff on the breast and throat. The young birds are nearly fully grown before the first winter plumage is acquired, which appears first on the breast and last on the neck and rump. Young birds in the fall look very much like the horned grebe in corresponding plumage, but they are somewhat smaller, with smaller and slenderer heads and necks, and the shape of the bills is different and characteristic of the species. The first winter plumage of the eared grebe, dark above and white below, is similar to the adult winter plumage, but the black of the back is browner and the colors of the head are duller and less distinctly outlined; the bill is also smaller and not so clearly defined in shape. A first prenuptial molt takes place in April and May, which involves nearly all, if not all, the contour feathers and produces a plumage closely resembling that of the adult. At the first post-nuptial molt, the following summer, the plumage is com- pletely renewed and young birds become indistinguishable from adults at an age of 14 and 15 months. Adults have two molts, a partial prenuptial molt, involving the head and neck and, at least part, if not all of the body plumage, which begins in December, and a complete post-nuptial molt in August and September. Thus it will be seen that the winter plum- age, or perhaps it should be called the fall plumage, is worn but three or four months in the fall. Individuals vary greatly in the times at which this plumage is acquired and replaced. Adults in the fall have white throats, have less brown in the sides and have only traces of the yellowish brown ear tufts; but they can be recognized by the size and shape of the bills and by the darker backs and heads; many birds also have more or less black in the throats during the fall. The prenuptial molt into the adult spring plumage is some- times prolonged into May but is usually completed by May 1. Food.—The food of the eared grebe consists principally of water insects and their larvae, beetles, tadpoles, very small frogs and shrimps, all of which it obtains by diving; it also feeds to some ex- tent on various water plants;.and feathers, presumably from its own body are often found in its stomach. Dr. T. S. Roberts (1900) says: The stomachs and gullets of several birds collected by the writer and kindly examined by Professor Beal, of the Biological Survey at Washington, con- tained a mass of insect débris to the exclusion of all else. One stomach alone furnished some 15 different species, among them several varieties injurious to the interests of man. The chief part of the food, however, during the time of our visit to the colony, and that on which the young were largely fed, was the nymphs of dragon flies which were then to be found in immense numbers in the meadows near by. The writer counted no less than 327 of these insects in a single stomach. Behavior—tThe eared grebe is seldom seen in flight, except on migrations, for the bird seems reluctant to leave the water and pre- LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 33 ‘fers to escape by diving or merely swimming away at a moderate speéd, for it is not a shy species. It can, however, rise from the water readily and fly quite swiftly. It swims easily and glides through the water very smoothly, with scarcely a ripple. It can wholly or par- tially submerge its body while swimming or it can dive like a flash. When diving in deep water it often leaps into the air and plunges straight down, as if to gain impetus in this way. It dives with its wings closed and probably swims under water with only its feet in use. It is less inclined to remain under water or skulk in the reeds than the other small grebes, but prefers to come to the surface and watch proceedings from a distance. In its spring plumage it can easily be recognized by the slender shape of its head and neck, held straight up, and by the long pointed crest, which is usually erected; the effect is entirely different from that produced by the round, fluffy head of the horned grebe or the smooth head of the pied-billed grebe. Young birds in the fall might be recognized by the small slender heads and necks, but this is not a very conspicuous char- acter. In addition to the love notes, mentioned under the courtship per- formances, the eared grebe frequently indulges in a series of rasp- ing, shrill calls and piercing cries. Yarrell (1871) says of the Euro- pean bird: The note of this species is a soft whistling bib, bib, and during the breeding season like bide wide wide wide wide uttered quickly. Mr. Aretas A. Saunders writes to me in regard to its vocal powers: I have had a considerable acquaintance with this species in the past year but have seldom heard a sound from it. Once, however, I observed a large flock of fall migrants of this species on Rock Creek Lake, Powell County, Montana, and these birds kept up a continual noise all the time. The note from a single bird is a short, harsh, high-pitched call that sounds like wa-a-a. The sound produced by the entire flock somewhat resembled the honking of a flock of snow geese. This flock numbered about 175 birds. They kept in a body in the middle of the lake and were not feeding. Why they kept up the continual clatter was a mystery to me, and rather remarkable because the species is usually so silent. This species, as well as the western grebe, has suffered seriously from market hunting for the millinery trade, notably in the lake regions of Oregon and California, where thousands were shot every week during the breeding season; they were tame and easily killed. The breasts were stripped off, dried, and shipped to New York, where they were much in demand for ladies’ hats, capes, and muffs. The hunters realized about 20 cents for each skin, which brought them in a handsome income. Fortunately this practice has been stopped, in that locality at least, by the establishment of protected reservations. There have been times in the past when the eggs of the eared grebe were used largely for food. Its habit of nesting in 34 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. large, densely populated colonies made it an easy matter to gather the eggs in large quantities, which were salted down in barrels of brine for future use, but this custom does not seem to prevail to any extent to-day. These two destructive agencies undoubtedly re- duced the abundance of the species considerably, but it is probably holding its own again now or perhaps even increasing where it is protected. Falit—tThe fall migration starts late in August and proceeds slowly. Throughout the northern portion of their breeding range the birds linger until driven out of the lakes by freezing; but from the southern portions of its breeding range the species never wholly disappears, although the individuals seen in winter were probably not bred in that vicinity. There is a coastwise movement as well as a southward migration in the fall; the species winters abundantly along the southern half of the California coast, as well as farther south, and in the lakes of the interior. DISTRIBUTION. Breeding range.—Western North America. East to central Mani- toba (Shoal Lake and Red River), southwestern Minnesota (Heron Lake), northern Iowa (Eagle Lake, Hancock County, and Clear Lake, Cerro Cordo County), and eastern Nebraska (West Point and Omaha). South to southern Texas (Lavaca and Bexar Counties), northern New Mexico (San Miguel and Rio Arriba Counties), northern Arizona (Stoneman’s and Mormon Lakes and near Flag- staff), and southern California (Escondido, San Diego County). West to the Sierras of California (also Bear Lake, San Bernardino Mountains, and Elizabeth Lake, Los Angeles County), probably eastern Oregon and eastern Washington (east of Cascade Mountains) and south central British Columbia (Kamloops). North to south- ern Mackenzie (Great Slave Lake). Winter rangeSouthward mainly west of the Rocky Mountains, particularly along the Pacific coast. East to Nevada (Carson City) and Texas (San Antonio). South to Guatemala (Lake Duenas). West to the Pacific coast; western Mexico (Guaymas), Lower Cali- fornia (off La Paz and Magdalena Bay) and California (entire coast). North to Washington (Nisqually Flats). Spring migration —Northeastward starting in April. Lower Cali- fornia: Colnett Bay, April 8; San Quentin Bay, May 9. Colorado: Barr Lake, April 14. Wyoming: Lake Como, May 4. Nebraska: End of April. Kansas: Last of April to middle of May. Missouri: April 9 to May 3 (formerly). Montana: Teton County, May 1. Fall migration—Southwestward across the Rocky Mountains. Montana: Custer and Davenport Counties, October 2. Idaho: Coeur d’Alene Lakes, October 9. Colorado: El ‘Paso County, LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 85 October 27. Wyoming: November 10. Missouri: September 22 to November 2 (formerly). Kansas: September to November. North- ern Arizona: September. Oregon: Fort Klamath, November 7. Lower California: San Jose del Cabo, October 18. Jalisco: Ocot- lan, September 28. Casual records.—Indiana: May 19 and November 5. Wisconsin: Several’ spring specimens. Illinois: Lake Michigan, winter (?). Michigan records are discredited. Egg dates—North Dakota and South Dakota: 41 records, April 29 to July 23; 21 records, June 4 to 27. Colorado: 19 records, May 10 to July 20; 10 records, May 28 to July 6. California: 14 records, April 22 to August 2; 7 records, June 8 to 19. Saskatchewan: 9 records, June 10 to 26; 5 records, June 13 to 22. Oregon and Wash- ington: 9 records, May 3 to July 5; 5 records, June 1 to 12. Utah: 38 records, April 22, June 20 and July 2. COLYMBUS DOMINICUS BRACHYPTERUS Chapman. MEXICAN GREBE, HABITS. As this little tropical species, the smallest of the grebes, is the only one of the North American grebes that I am not familiar with in life, I must draw wholly from the observations of others for an account of its life history. Unfortunately, published notes on its habits are very scanty, so the story will be short and incomplete. Prior to 1899 the San Domingo grebe (Colymbus dominicus) stood on our Check List, as found in the West Indies, southern Texas, Mexico, and Lower California, as well as in tropical South America. But Frank M. Chapman (18995) discovered certain. geographical varieties of the species worthy of recognition in nomenclature and separated it into three subspecies. His description separates the Mexican form, which also ranges into Texas and Lower California, from the West Indian bird under the name of brachypterus, having a much shorter wing and a smaller bill. This seems to be a well- marked subspecies in which the characters are constant. Mr. Vernon Bailey (1902) observes: These tiny grebes are as common in the ponds of southern Texas as the dab- chick ig the North. In open water they bob on the little waves, and in quiet pools where the willows overhang the banks swim and dive among the sedges and pink water lilies. When not seeking food below the surface of the water they usually keep close to some cover, and in the middle of the day if not hidden in the sedges are found sitting close under the shore grass or in the shade of a bush or low-hanging tree. Nesting.—Mr. Frank B. Armstrong, who has collected many sets ‘of eggs of this grebe near Brownsville, Texas, wrote to Major Ben- 55916—19—Bull. 107 4 36 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. dire in 1891 about its nesting habits. The nests are placed in the middle of a secluded pond, floating in three feet of water and exposed to the full rays of the sun. He says that the birds cover the eggs when they leave the nest to protect them from the excessive heat of the sun, and states that both sexes help in the incubation. I have two sets of Mexican grebe’s eggs in my collection taken by Mr. Arm- strong near Brownsville, Texas; one set of three fresh eggs was col- lected on April 8, 1898, from a nest in a creek; and one of four fresh eggs was taken on April 23, 1900, from a nest in a pond; the nests were made of rushes, trash, and dead vegetable matter. Although the bird found in the West Indies is now considered subspecifically distinct, its habits are probably similar, and, as we have so litle to draw from on this species, I shall quote from what Mr. Philip H. Gosse (1847) has to say about it in Jamaica. He writes of its nesting habits: Early in August I found near the edge of Mount Edgecombe pond a nest of this grebe—a round heap of pond weed and rotten leaves, flattened at the top, and slightly hollowed; it was about 15 inches wide and 6 or 8 inches thick. The top was damp, but not wet, and very warm from exposure to the sun’s rays. We drew it on shore, for it was entangled among the branches of a fallen tree, but not attached to them, and presently found on the matted weed just below the surface, in the place where we had dragged it, a large white egg, excessively begrimed with dirt, doubtless from lying on the decaying leaves. On being cleansed I found it covered with a chalky coat, easily scratched off. ‘ A few weeks after I again visited this pond. On approaching before sunrise (for I had traveled by the brilliant starlight of the tropical heavens) I saw a grebe sitting on a new nest, in the same spot as I had found the former one. This nest was composed of similar materials and contained four eggs. Barly in December we found another nest with the young just peeping from the egg. It is probable, therefore, that several broods are reared in a season.” The Mexican grebe has recently been found breeding in Bexar County, Texas, by Messrs. Roy W. Quillin and Ridley Holleman (1916), who say: About 10 miles south of San Antonio there is a large marshy lake which cov- ers something like a thousand or twelve hundred acres. Being the only body of water of this size in this part of Texas, and having exceptional surroundings, it is the mecca of the water birds of this county. Practically the entire lake is surrounded by a barrier of cat-tail reeds, tules, and marsh grass, which in some portions is one hundred or more yards in width. While searching for nests of the American eared grebe in a secluded “inlet of this lake we located our first nest with eggs of the San Domingo grebe (Colym- bus dominicus brachypterus). Both cat-tails and tules were growing at this point, but not so thickly as they are generally found. In one of the small patches of open water which break the monotony of these reed jungles the nest was anchored. In general appearance the nests examined by us average somewhat smaller than nests of the American eared grebe, this being especially true of the hollow in which the eggs are deposited. The nests were composed of de- cayed reeds of every description, heaped into a cone-shaped mass measuring from LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 37 4 to 6 inches in height and from 14 to 24 inches in diameter at the base, tapering to 6 or 8 inches at the top, and they were liberally plastered with mud, especially the depression which held the eggs. The area of this depression, the depth of which is about 1 inch, is determined by the number of eggs in the clutch, as they fit snugly into it. Of five nests located from June 25 to July 9 two contained 4 eggs and three 3 eggs. All these sets were from slight to heavily incubated. The eggs were badly stained, and the majority retained a rich brown cast even after the most vigorous scrubbing. In all cases the eggs were covered by a thin layer of damp, decayed reeds, We were unable to flush the bird from any of these nests and were able to identify them only by patient and lengthy waiting. These grebes are very hard to see on this lake, as they keep close to the reeds, and if found a short dis- tance from them they immediately slip under the water and disappear. How- ever, they were seen feeding in the company of American eared grebes, Florida gallinules, and American coots. £'ggs.—The breeding season for the Mexican grebe is so prolonged, from April to December, that it seems likely that two or three broods may be raised in a season. This habit is decidedly exceptional among water birds, although there is some evidence to indicate that the pied-billed grebe may raise two broods in a season. The Mexi- can grebe lays from three to six eggs, usually four or five. In shape the eggs vary from “elliptical oval” to “oval,” with a tendency to become “ fusiform” or more or less bluntly pointed at both ends. The shell is fairly smooth and quite glossy. The color is said to be bluish white or dull buffy white, but all that I have seen are so badly nest stained that the original color is no longer visible. The eggs in my collection vary from “cinnamon buff” to “cream buff,” with numerous darker stains and specks of dirt. The measurements of 49 eggs in the United States National Museum and the author’s collections average 33.9 by 23.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 38 by 24, 35 by 25, 30 by 22.5, and 32.5 by 22 millimeters. Plumages—The downy young when first hatched is “blackish brown” above, which fades to “olive brown” in older birds; there are three narrow, broken, longitudinal white stripes on each side of the back, which disappear in older birds; the head and neck are broadly and irregularly striped with black and white; the crown is mostly black with a triangular or V-shaped rufous patch in the cen- ter; the belly is white. This downy covering is not replaced by the first real plumage until the young bird is fully grown, when the first winter plumage is acquired. Young birds can then be distinguished by their smaller bills; the head is leaden gray, with a darker crown and a whitish throat; the neck and chest are brownish or dusky and the sides are dusky. During the following spring, when the young bird is nearly a year old, it assumes a plumage which is practically adult. I have seen young birds undergoing this molt in May. 38 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. The adult nuptial plumage, characterized by the slate-gray head and neck, with the clear black crown and throat, is often worn until October; and the time of the postnuptial molt varies greatly in different individuals. This molt is probably complete, though I have not been able to trace it fully. Sooner or later a winter plumage is acquired, which is not very different from the nuptial plumage, except that the lower parts are purer white and there is more or less white in the chin and throat; perhaps these are sometimes wholly white, but more often the black predominates. This adult winter plumage, which is very different from the first winter, is apparently worn from October to March, when a limited prenuptial molt pro- duces the spring plumage. Food.—Nothing seems to have been published on the food of this species except the following unsatisfactory note by Mr. Gosse (1847) : The gizzards of all that I obtained were filled with a finely comminuted sub- stance, rather dry, of an unctuous appearance, and mingled with short silky filaments. A close examination with a lens failed to determine its nature; but I believe it to have been principally vegetable. Behavior.—The same writer tells of their behavior: The ponds of the cattle pens are the favorite resorts of this little grebe. I have been most familiar with it at the pond of Mount Edgecumbe, which, though not more than an acre or two in extent, used to be speckled with a good number of these miniature ducks, their little black heads and the tops of their backs alone being visible above the surface. On the slightest alarm they dive with the quickness of thought, and so vigilant is their eye and so rapid their motion that, ordinarily, the fowling piece is discharged at them in vain. It is commonly said of some birds that they dive at the flash of the pan; but though I always used percussion locks I could never succeed in hitting one until I formed a screen of bushes, behind which I might fire in concealment. I then found no difficulty. Hence, I infer that their quick eye detects and takes alarm at the small but sudden motion of the falling hammer. They remain long and swim far under water, coming up where quite unlooked for. Some that I have had an opportunity of observing when swimming a little beneath the surface shot along with expanded wings, almost with the celerity of a fish. They do not always dive, however, when frightened; sometimes they sink deeper than before, and swim away almost submerged. When not alarmed they call and answer each other, with a loud clang, like the note of a trumpet. Winter.—The Mexican grebe seems to be a resident throughout the year in the regions which it inhabits. Its short wings hardly enable it to rise above the surface of the ponds in which it lives, so that it is incapable of, or poorly equipped for, long migratory flights. It seems to be perfectly content to spend-its life in the waters of its birth, where it is perfectly at home. Its plumage is so thoroughly impregnated with oil and its breathing apparatus is so specialized that it moves about in the bottom of the pond as freely as on land, living an amphibious life of ease and comfort and interested only in its watery surroundings. LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 39 DISTRIBUTION. Breeding range—Mexico and Central America from Panama north to the Rio Grande region of southern Texas. Occurs in the cape region of Lower California and has been attributed (probably erroneously) to the “ Valley of the Colorado.” Apparently resident and breeding throughout its range. Eggs have recently been taken in Bexar County, Texas (10 miles south of San Antonio). Replaced by closely allied forms in South America and the Greater Antilles. E'gg dates.—Texas: 39 records, March 3 to September 6; 20 records, June 3 to August 5. PODILYMBUS PODICEPS (Linneus). PIED-BILLED GREBE, HABITS, This widely distributed and well-known bird, the little “ dabchick,” is practically resident, or nearly so, throughout the southern por- tion of its range, though probably there is a general movement south, ward in winter and the summer residents are therefore not the same _ individuals that are seen in that region in winter. The dates given below show that this grebe is an early migrant, pushing northward soon after the ice has left our northern ponds and streams. Its favorite haunts when migrating are small sheltered ponds and slug- gish streams where it can paddle about in comfort and seek shelter, when danger threatens, among the bushes, reeds or grasses which line the shores or where it may hide under the protecting vegetation of overhanging banks. In such situations it seems to vanish mysteri- ously, skulking in some sheltered nook, with only its bill above water, well deserving its common name of “ water witch.” Courtship—Audubon’s (1840) spirited drawing of the “ pied- billed dabchick,” as he calls it, shows this bird in the midst of active courtship, which is a lively performance; the ardent suitor rushes about in the most excited manner, splashing along over the surface of the water or repeatedly diving below it and coming up again near his intended mate and voicing his admiration in a variety of soft cooing notes. Nesting.—As soon as their love affairs are settled the grebes begin to search for a suitable nesting site. This is generally well chosen and the nest more successfully concealed than is the case with the other grebes. The nature of the nesting site varies considerably in different localities. Mr. William Brewster (1906) describes a former nesting site of the pied-billed grebe in Massachusetts as follows: On June 13, 1891, Mr. Walter Faxon found a number of pied-billed grebes breeding at Great Meadow. There can be little doubt that they had been es- 40 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. tablished there for sometime previous to this, for the shallow brush-grown reservoir which they inhabited had then been in existence for nearly 20 years. On the occasion just mentioned, Mr. Faxon saw or heard at least six or eight different birds, one of which wag accompanied by chicks only a few days old, and on April 27, 1892, he discovered a nest containing five fresh eggs. During the following eight years Great Meadow was frequently visited by our local ornithologists, and the manners and customs of the grebes were closely studied. One or two birds often appeared in the pond as soon as it was free from ice—this sometimes happening before the close of March—and by the middle of April the full colony was usually reestablished. It was dif- ficult to judge as to how many members it contained, for they were given to haunting the flooded thickets, and we seldom saw more than three or four of them on any one occasion; but at times, especially in the early morning and late afternoon when the weather was clear and calm their loud cuckoo-like ealls and odd whinnying outcries would come in quick succession from so many different parts of the pond that one might have thought there were scores of birds. Probably the total number of pairs did not ever exceed a dozen, while during some seasons there were apparently not more than five or six, They built their interesting floating nests in water a foot or more in depth, anchoring them to the stems of the sweet gale and button bushes, and laying from five to eight eggs, which usually were covered by the bird whenever she left them. Although a few sets of eggs were taken by collectors, the grebes reared a fair number of young every season, and without doubt they would have continued to resort to Great Meadow for an indefinite period had not the reservoir been abandoned, and its waters almost completely drained in the autumn of 1901; since then the bids have ceased, of course, to frequent the place. The pied-billed grebe is not easily driven from its favorite nesting haunts by the encroachments of civilization and is occasionally found nesting in suitable localities in thickly settled regions or near our large cities. A striking instance of this is shown in Mr, Clinton G. Abbott’s (1907) account of the nesting of this species in the Hack- ensack Meadows, near New York City, in 1906, where an extensive cat-tail swamp offered a congenial home for grebes and gallinules. Mr. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says of its breeding habits in South Carolina: This is an abundant permanent resident, breeding in fresh-water ponds or large rice-field reservoirs, where the water is generally from 4 to 10 feet deep. The birds are mated by the last of February, and the nests, which are com- menced about the middle of March, are composed of decayed vegetable matter anchored to buttonwood bushes or reeds. In the North Dakota sloughs, in 1901, we found the pied-billed grebe nesting abundantly, in company with canvasbacks, redheads, ruddy ducks, and coots, and examined a large number of nests, which may be considered as fairly typical of its normal nesting habits throughout the greater portion of its breeding range. The depth of water in which the nest is located varies greatly, but most of the nests are placed in water not over 3 feet deep. The nests are usually an- chored to, or built up around or among, dead or growing reeds or » BULLETIN [07 PL. 9 NATIONAL MUSEUM U.S. North Dakota. Steele County, BILLED GREBE. North Dakota. PIED- Steele County, < iv} a w 9 < a w w a z ‘S - Ls 4 °o a wu r) « °° u LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 41 rushes. Sometimes they are well concealed in thick clumps of reeds, but usually they can be easily seen, although not so conspicuous as those of the horned or eared grebes. The nests are generally scat- tered and only a few pairs of birds were found in each slough. When located in deep water the nest is_strictly a floating affair, but otherwise it is more often partially connected with the bottom. A large amount of material is collected and piled up into bulky mass, mostly below the surface of the water, often large enough to fill a bushel basket; on top of this, above the water, a smaller and neater nest is built. The material consists of whatever the bird can conveniently find in, the vicinity in the way of decayed vegetable matter, dead reeds, flags, rushes, or grasses; sometimes fresh, green flags are mixed in with the rubbish and often the whole structure is plastered together with a quantity of the soft, green vegetable scum which grows in stagnant water. This wet and slimy structure is built up but a few inches above the water, usually from 2 to 4 inches, and measures about a foot in diameter; the nest cavity is but slightly hollowed and the eggs are partially buried in the soft material. £ggs.—tThe pied-billed grebe lays from 3 to 10 eggs, but the ex- tremes are rare and the set usually consists of from 5 to 7 eggs. In shape the eggs are “ elliptical ovate” or “elliptical oval,” sometimes almost “fusiform.” The shell is generally smooth, with a slight lus- ter, but sometimes dotted with small excrescences or lumps. The color of the clean, freshly laid egg is dull bluish white or pale olive white, but it soon becomes stained or clouded with various buffy shades; some sets are uniformly stained as dark as “ wood-brown” or “ Isabella color;” generally more or less mud and bits of nesting material sticks to the egg, giving it a mottled appearance. The measurements of 48 eggs in the United States National Museum collection average 43.4 by 80 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 47 by 30, 44 by 32, 39 by 29.5, and 44 by 28 millimeters. ; Mr. C. H. Pease made some interesting observations on the nesting operations of this species at Canaan, Connecticut, during May and June, 19138. He sent the results of his observations to Dr. Louis B. Bishop, who has given them to me. On May 22 he found the nest completed and the first egg laid; on May 28 the eighth and last egg was laid, one having been laid each day. The first two eggs hatched on June 15, one in the forenoon and one in the afternoon; and the last egg hatched at 9.15 in the morning of June 21; the record shows that the period of incubation, in this case, was from 23 to 24 days. On June 22, the day after the last egg hatched, only one young bird was left in the nest. On July 3 he saw the whole family of eight, “half grown in less than two weeks.” Both sexes incubate. So far as I know, only one brood is raised in a season; but there are some very early and very late dates for nesting 42 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. which may indicate two broods. The question of whether this grebe regularly incubates its eggs or leaves them to be hatched by the warmth of decaying vegetation has provoked considerable discus- sion. Like all the smaller grebes, it frequently covers its eggs, with the soft material of which the nest is composed, when it leaves its nest; but this is not always done and often, when the bird is surprised and forced to leave in a hurry, it does not have time to do so. The pied-billed grebe is seldom seen sitting on its nest. I have exam- ined a great many nests and have attempted to approach cautiously enough to catch a glimpse of the incubating bird, but have never been able to see one on its nest; some other observers have been more fortunate. I believe that it incubates regularly during the greater part of the time. It is one of the shyest of the grebes; it slips away from its nest on the slightest alarm and keeps out of sight. I have watched for an hour or more within sight of half a dozen nests and not caught a glimpse of a single grebe, although they were un- doubtedly watching me all the time. Young—tThe young are very precocious and leave the nest soon after they are hatched; usually some of the young are swimming about before the last of the eggs have hatched. They are expert swimmers and divers, by instinct, though they can not remain under water more than a few seconds. I have taken recently hatched chicks out of a nest, which were too young to have been taught by their parents, and seen them dive and swim away or hide among the reeds with only their little bills protruding above the surface. Sometimes the parent bird carries them on her back where they cling tenaciously while she dives and brings them up again, none the worse for their ducking. They are truly little “ water witches” by inheritance. Rev. Manley B. Townsend writes me that, on June 24, 1910, he saw an adult, with young, chasing a muskrat on the surface of a slough in Nebraska, and raises the question whether these animals, which are generally considered to be strictly vegetarian in their habits, kill young grebes. Undoubtedly many are killed by pickerel or other large fishes and by snapping turtles or large frogs. Dr. Arthur A. Allen (1914) has written a very interesting ac- count of his studies into the family affairs of the pied-billed grebe, illustrating it with some remarkable photographs of this shy bird. It is well worth reading or quoting in full, but space will permit only the following extract: I was first directed to the spot by a friend who said that “ coots”” were nest- ing there. I was not a little surprised, therefore, when, after wading for a short distance along the edge of the pond, my attention was attracted by a splash in the water ahead, accompanied by a startled note like the syllable keck, and a few seconds later a grebe bobbed into sight. Instead of imme- diately sinking again, as one learns to expect of a grebe, it rose up on its legs U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 107 PL. 10 Ithaca, New York. Francis Harper. Barr Lake, Colorado. R. B. Rockwell. PIED-BILLED GREBE. FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 234, LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 43. and began beating upon the water with its wings. Such behavior bespoke something very unusual happening in the near-by nest. I looked just in time to see the last of the striped young scramble from it and disappear beneath the water. Then ensued a series of maneuvers on the part of the bird which were evidently intended to distract my attention. The customary silence, ease, and grace of diving were entirely abandoned. Each appearance above the water was announced by a shake of the body, followed by a beating of the wings on the surface, and a flip of the fete as it again dove, which sometimes. sprayed water for more than a yard. This performance took place within 10 or 15 feet of me, and sometimes the bird swam in even closer. At such times it rested rather high on the water, holding its tail, if we may speak of it as such, erect, and nervously flashing the light areas on the flanks, as do the galli- nules. Meanwhile the young birds had made their way toward the center of the pond. The largest could not have been more than a few days old, and yet,. when I tried to catch them, they showed all the ingenuity of the old birds, diving, doubling, swimming with just the bill showing, or lying concealed in a bunch of water weeds, with only the nostrils above the surface. Had the water been less clear I probably should have been unable to catch any of them; but, as it was, I could follow them as they escaped in various directions. They were even conspicuous when attempting to hide. I was reminded of the old story of the ostrich which buried its head in the sand to escape detection; for, in spite of the fact that only the bill was exposed above the water, the entire body was nearly as conspicuous as though floating on the surface. In diving, as in floating, the wings of the young projected nearly at right angles from their bodies, even more so than in other precocial birds. The largest of the young had already reached the open water beyond my depth, and when I returned to the shore the old grebe swam toward it, changing her alarm not of keck, keck to a softer cup, cup, as though calling to it. Swimming beyond it, she turned her tail toward it and slightly raised her wings. This was the signal for the young one to crawl upon her back, which it repeatedly attempted to do until its mother, disgusted with such clumsiness, clapped her wing on its neck and started off at a great rate for the other end of the pond. When far enough away she checked her speed and gave it an- other chance. Then with her wobbly passenger she continued to the end of the pond, where she was joined by her mate. Here they sported about for some time, the young bird plunging from the back of one and swimming across. to the cther, all seemingly forgetful of the rest of the family. Finally they disappeared into the rushes, and I continued my course around the pond. Plumages-—The downy young is prettily and quite strikingly marked with black and white; it is mainly glossy black above, with. longitudinal stripes of grayish white on the neck and back; the crown is black, more or less variegated with “walnut brown” or. “burnt umber,” sometimes in the form of a central patch, and with. two broad superciliary stripes of white meeting on the forehead and two white stripes above them; the sides of the neck and throat are. variegated with black and white and the sides of the body are more. or less washed with dusky; the under parts are grayish white, light- est on the belly. The bird is fully half grown before the real plum- age appears, which shows first on the breast and then in the wings; it is nearly full-grown before the down entirely disappears. The 44 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. large series of specimens in the United States National Museum collection seems to indicate that the full adult plumage is acquired during the first year. Many young birds retain the black and white stripes on the head until late in October, though some have com- pletely changed before that time into the brown plumage of the first winter, in which the bright russet color of the neck, breast, and flanks is conspicuous. The black throat of the adult and the black band on the bill are acquired just prior to the breeding season. Some adults show traces of the black throat in the fall or have it well developed, but partially concealed by the whitish tips of the feathers. Food.—The pied-billed grebe feeds largely on animal matter such as small fish, snails, small frogs, tadpoles, aquatic worms, leeches and water insects; it also eats the seeds and soft parts of aquatic plants to some extent. Balls of its own feathers often occur in its stomach. Although this grebe is more essentially a fresh water bird than the other species, Audubon (1840) states that when its favorite ponds and streams are frozen over, it may occasionally be seen in bays and estuaries searching for shrimps and fry. Behavior.—This species is less often seen in flight than the other grebes, for it seems to prefer to escape by diving or skulking, but it is well capable of rapid flight, when necessary, in spite of its small wings. When rising from the water it runs along the surface for a long distance, beating the water with its broad paddles until it can rise into the air, when it flies swiftly away in a straight line, moving its wings very quickly and with its neck and feet outstretched. When migrating it often flies high in the air. It seems to be incapable of rising from the ground and its movements on dry land are so awk- ward that it spends very little time out of the water; although it sometimes crawls out onto lily pads or marshy shores to sun itself or preen its feathers. The water is its natural element, where it is completely at home. I can remember distinctly how much ammuni- tion I wasted in my old muzzle-loading gun, when I was a boy, in vain attempts to bag the elusive “ hell-diver,” as we used to call it. My attempts were seldom successful and I used to think that it dove at the flash of the gun; with a modern gun and nitro powder the results might have been different. Anything which even looked like a duck was considered legitimate game in those days and the silky grebes’ breasts were proudly presented to my girl friends. The pied- billed grebe is no less expert than others of its tribe in diving; ordi- narily, in a hurried dive, it plunges forward and disappears like a flash, swimming away for a long distance under water, to appear sud- denly at some unexpected spot or perhaps to vanish and keep out of sight; it also has the power so to contract its displacement that it can swim along with only its head and neck above water, or it can LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 45 gradually sink down backward, like a disappearing frog, without making a ripple. I have always supposed that the grebes do not use their wings under water, but Audubon (1840) had a good chance to study them in captivity and says: We placed them in a large tub of water, where we could see all their sub- aqueous movements. They swam round the sides of the tub in the manner of the puffin, moving their wings in accordance with their feet, and continued so a much longer time than one could suppose it possible for them to remain under water, coming up to breathe, and ‘plunging again with astonishing celerity. Except during the breeding season this grebe does not associate much with other species; it is usually seen singly, in pairs, or in very small parties. Dr. Frank M. Chapman’s (1912) experience shows that it is not always so solitary; he says: On Heron Lake, Minnesota, in early October, I have seen pied-billed grebes, in close-massed flocks, containing a hundred or more birds, cruising about in open water. . Prof. Lynds Jones writes me that: On small bodies of water they mix somewhat with the other water birds, more from necessity than from choice. Threatened danger will almost always result in the separation of the grebes from the ducks with which they may be associated. Rev. W. F. Henninger reports that he has seen them associated with blue-winged teal and black duck and playfully chasing around with them. The vocal powers of the pied-billed grebe are limited to a few notes, heard mainly in the breeding season, for at other times it is generally’a silent bird. Dr. Chapman (1908) describes its love notes as follows: Its notes, as I have heard them in the Montezuma marshes, are very loud and sonorous with a cuckoo-like quality, and may be written cow-cow-cow-cow- €0w-Cc0W-Cc0Ww-cow-cow-cow-uh, cow-uh, cow-uh-cow-uh. These notes vary in number, and are sometimes followed by prolonged wailing cows or us, almost human in their expressiveness of pain and fear. This is apparently the love song of the male, in which his mate sometimes joins with a cuk-cuk-cuk, followed by a slower ugh, ugh, ugh. Mr. W. L. Dawson (1909) designates the notes as “an odd bub- bling giggle, keggy, keggy, keggy, keggy, keggy, keggy, keggy, etc., rendered with great rapidity ”; he also refers to a single excited aow, uttered from time to time. Mr. E. E. Thompson (1890) describes a peculiar call note “ pr-r-r-r-r- tow tow tow tow tow” which he as- cribed to this species in Manitoba. The pied-billed grebe may be distinguished in the field from other grebes by the absence of white in the wings, by the general brownish tinge, and by the short, thick, henlike bill. 46 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. Rev. C. W. G. Hifrig has sent me the following account of an in- cident, which well illustrates the ability of this species to conceal itself: It had been very dry for a long time. The sloughs were dry or nearly so. While walking through one, I saw a grebe in the fringe between the plant. growth of the center and the outer shore where there was hardly enough cover for a grasshopper to hide. ' Nor could it find cover in the center, for that is where I came from. It could not dive, because the water was only 8 or 4 inches deep. So being forced to adopt desperate means, it threw itself over a tussock in the shallow watér, where at once it became invisible at a distance of 10 to 15 feet. And the tussock was only as large as 2 or 3 hands. Its neck was lying across, the body pressed against the side as closely as posible and so its colors harmonized exactly with the blackish brown of the tussock. Two somewhat similar incidents are related by Mr. Delos E. Culver (1914) which show that these and similar hiding poses are probably frequently used by pied-billed grebes. Fall.—On the fall migration these grebes proceed slowly through September and October, lingering on the inland ponds and small streams in family parties, in pairs or even singly, sojourning regu- larly in certain favorite spots, but working gradually coastwise. They show a decided preference for fresh water at all seasons, but. as the ponds and streams become frozen, they are forced to. resort to the open tidal creeks and estuaries. In such places they spend the winter on our southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts and as far north as Washington on the Pacific coast. They also winter to some extent in the rivers and open lakes of the interior, pirhicalarly: in the Southern States and Mexico. DISTRIBUTION. Breeding range.—Nearly entire North and South America in suit- able localities. In North America east to Quebec, New Brunswick, and the Atlantic Coast States. South to Gulf States and Mexico. West to the Pacific coast. North to Vancouver Island, central Brit- ish Columbia (Cariboo district), southern Mackenzie (Great Slave Lake and valley of the Mackenzie River), ou Ontario (Sudbury, Parry Sound district, and Ottawa). Actual nesting records for Central and South America are not numerous, but the species is resident south to Argentine Republic and Chile. The bird breeding in the West Indies has been separated as Podilymbus podiceps antillarum Bangs, but its validity has been questioned. Winter range.—Birds breeding in the northern United States and. southern Canada winter in the southern United States and Mexico. From New York and New Jersey (occasionally), Virginia (Ashland, Hanover County), and District of Columbia (Potomac River) south- LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 47 ward and from the Gulf States west to Texas (McLennan County) and Arizona (Colorado River). On the Pacific coast from Van- couver Island (Barkley Sound) southward. The species is largely resident south of the United States. Spring migration—Northward beginning in March. New Jersey: March 15 to April 20. New York: March 23 to April 15. Massa- chusetts: March 1 (earliest). Maine: April to May 19. Missouri: During March. Ohio: April 1 to 10, earliest March 16. Illinois: March 23 to April 15. Wisconsin: April 18. Michigan: March 12 to 28. Nebraska: Middle of April. Colorado: Boulder County, April 7. Wyoming: May 5. Montana: May 23. Fall migration.—Southward starting in September. Nova Scotia: Halifax County, November 5 (latest). Ontario: Ottawa, November 7 (latest). Maine: September 1 to November 13. Massachusetts: December 10 (latest). New York: September 15 to November 1. Michigan: October to November. Wisconsin: October 20. Ohio: September 1 to October 25, latest November 4. Saskatchewan: Dirt Hills, October. Colorado, Boulder County, October 16. Casual records——Recorded from Cape Horn and Straits of Ma- gellan, Hudson Bay (York Factory), and Bermuda (perhaps regu- Jar in winter). Egg dates—Michigan and Wisconsin: 33 records, May 14 to August 10; 17 records, May 30 to June 9. Illinois: 27 records, May 10 to July 8; 14 records, May 26 to June 10. California: 26 records, April 23 to August 6; 18 records, May 22 to June 15. North Dakota: 18 records, May 19 to June 23; 9 records, May 29 to June 8. Coio- rado: 12 records, May 10 to July 6; 6 records, May 18 to June 9. British Columbia and Washington: 11 records, April 4 to June 3; 6 records, April 18 to May 27. New York and New Jersey: 8 records, May 15 to August 8; 4 records, June 3 to 17. Texas: 4 records, June 2 and 28; August 23 and 25. South Carolina: 4 records, April 11, 18, and 30, and May 1. Family GAVIID. Loons. GAVIA IMMER (Briinnich). LOON, HABITS. Among the picturesque lakes of the wilder, wooded portions of the Northern States and Canada—where dark firs and spruces mingled with graceful white birches, cast their reflections in the still, clear ‘waters—sportsmen and appreciative nature lovers have found at- tractive summer resorts. Here, far from the cares of the busy world, one finds true recreation in his pursuit of speckled trout, real rest 48 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. in his camp among the fragrant balsams, and genuine joy in his com- munion with nature in her wildest solitudes. The woodland lakes would be solitudes, indeed, did they lack the finishing touch to make the picture complete, the tinge of wildness which adds color to the scene, the weird and mournful cry of the loon, as he calls to his mate or greets some new arrival. Who has ever paddled a canoe, or cast a fly, or pitched a tent in the north woods and has not stopped to listen to this wail of the wilderness? And what would the wilderness be without it? Spring.—Loons love solitude and return each year to their chosen lake soon after the, ice goes out in the spring. This usually occurs late in April in Maine and correspondingly later farther north. We saw them migrating in large numbers along the south coast of Lab- rador between May 23 and June 3, 1909; they were in loose detached flocks in which the individuals were widely scattered. The spring flight on the Massachusetts coast is prolonged through April and May, the heaviest flight occurring about the middle of May. The migration is mainly along the coast, a short distance off the shore, though they fly across Cape Cod at its narrowest part, from Buz- zards Bay into Cape Cod Bay. The loons are apparently paired when they arrive on their breed- ing grounds and I believe they are usually mated for life. They show strong attachment to their old home and return year after year to the same spot to nest, even if they have been repeatedly disturbed. Apparently they do not desert a locality until one or both of the pair are killed. Loons are nowhere really abundant, but they are evenly distributed over a wide breeding range, are universally known, and are so conspicuous that they seem to be commoner than they actually are. Nearly every suitable lake within the breeding range of the species has its pair of loons, or has had it, and many large lakes sup- port two or more pairs. The breeding range of this species is becom- ing more and more restricted as the country becomes cleared and set- tled; the loons are being gradually killed off or driven away.