eans of disposing of such indigestible materials. As already mentioned,
aining life, although the stomachs Mone in each case greatly
ovether, and at least half an inch in diameter. I have never
pa a

the cause of their doing so or the m

I found nothing whatever capable of sust

distended, the contents being closely matted t

as Ss Whang

known the Horned Grebe to nest in Norfolk. a ~— ‘

j tunities serving this bird in a_ state nature an an

Audubon having had more opportunities of observing AE is, ed ty

i ce etter than close > necount of it with the following extract from his
English naturalist, I cannot do better than close my acco g

: : : ee ee
interesting ‘ Ornithological Biography

«The Horned Grebe is abundant, during autumn
the middle or eastern districts. It is particularly fond of those streams

States, but rare along the coasts of
of which the borders are overgrown by rank sedges and otber plants, and are subject to the influx of the
tide. In such places they enjoy greater security while searching for their food than in ponds, to which,
tire at the approach of the pairing-season, which commences early in
that these birds could scarcely fly, as they are then

and winter, on the large rivers or inlets of the Southern

however, they for the most part re

February. At that time one might be apt to think
rarely seen on the wing 5 but when they are pursued, and there happens to be a breeze, they rise from the
water with considerable ease, and fly to a distance of several hundred yards. In December and January I
° : . n . ¥ ; cae a l :

ing the least remains of their summer head-dress ; but by the 10th of March,

have never procured any hav
ards the north, the long feathers of the head are apparent. These tufts

when they are on their journey tow
seem to attain their full development in the course of a fortn
plumed sooner than the young, some of which leave the country in their winter dress.

« Although the greater number of these birds go far northward to breed, some remain within the limits
of the United States during the whole year, rearing their young on the borders of ponds, particularly in the
northern parts of the State of Ohio, in the vicinity of Lake Erie. Two nests which I found were placed

about four yards from the water’s edge, on the top of broken-down tussocks of rank weeds. The materials

ight or three weeks, the old birds becoming

of which they were composed were of the same nature, and were rudely interwoven to a height of
upwards of seven inches. They were rather more than a foot in diameter at the base, the cavity only four
inches across, shallow, but more neatly finished with finer plants, of which a quantity lay on the borders,
and was probably used by the bird to cover the eggs when about to leave them. ‘There were five eggs
in one nest and seven in the other; they measured one inch and three-quarters in length, by one inch and
two and a half eighths ; their shell was smooth and of a uniform yellowish cream-colour, without spots or
marks of any kind. The nests were not fastened to the weeds around them; nor do I conceive it probable
that they could be floated, as various writers assert they are at times.”

“The food of the Horned Grebe, while on salt water, is composed of shrimps, small fishes, and minute
mollusca; while on fresh water they procure insects, leeches, small frogs, tadpoles, and aquatic lizards ;
they also pick up the seeds of grasses, of which I found in the stomach of one individual as many as
would fill the shell of one of its eggs. Their flight is performed by regular short flappings executed with
great quickness.”

When fully adult, both sexes are adorned with the beautiful tippet and ear-tufts; but as soon as the
breeding-season is over they are again thrown off, and their livery is then very similar to that of the
Dabchick (Podiceps minor). Two instances of this bird coming to an untimely end under unusual
circumstances, have been made known to me. During one of my visits to the Leyden Museum, Professor
Schlegel showed me some fine examples out of several which had dived into a fishing-net in one of the
rivers of Holland and, being unable to extricate themselves, were drowned ; and when in Canada, [ saw
many old males at the shop of Mr. Booth, at the Niagara falls, who told me that these birds often approach
too near the upper part of the fall, and are carried over into the abyss below, meeting of course instant
death, and are afterwards picked up from the surface of the whirling eddy by the men on board the
small steamer which daringly traverses the turbulent caldron.

The Plate represents a male and a female in their summer plumage, with a nest and eggs, of the natural
size. eS accompaniments are a Bearded Tit (Calamophilus biarmicus), which is frequently found associated
with this Grebe in the Old World, and the flowering bulrush (Scirpus lacustris, Linn.).