Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: are bluish-white in color, with the usual discolorations on the surface. They vary from 1.60 to 1.85 in length, and from 1.10 to 1.20 in breadth. 4. Colymbus nigricollis californicus (heerm.) [7330.] American Eared Grebe. Hab. Northern and Western North America, from the Mississippi Valley westward. In most of the States and Territories west of the Mississippi River, this species breeds more or less abundantly in suitable localities, and its breeding range is almost as extensive as its habitat. It has been found nesting in the grassy lagoons of Texas, in tne fresh water ponds of California, the pools and sloughs of Eastern Oregon, the alkali lakes of Colorado, Kansas, and the Territory of Wyoming, in the little inlets of the larger bodies of water in Dakota and Minnesota, thence northward to the inland waters of British America. This Grebe, in common with the others, is justly noted for its expertness in diving and swimming, and, like all true divers, it is awkward on land. From the posterior position of the legs these birds stand almost upright, so that they have more the air of a small kangaroo than of a bird. Its general breeding habits are like others of the family, nesting, however, in more open situations, in flags and rushes, or upon a floating foundation in shallow water. In the absence of the bird the eggs are covered with debris. The habit of covering the eggs among the Grebes is either for the purpose of concealing them from enemies, such as Hawks and Gulls, or that upon the artificial heat, produced by the decayed vegetation, they are more or less dependent for the hatching of their eggs. When thus covered, the birds are known to remain away from their nests during the entire daytime. The eggs of this species are four to eight in number, and in Minnes...