PIED-BILLED GREBE
6. Podilymbus podiceps. 13.5 inches.
In any plumage this species cannot be mistaken for others, because of its stout compressed bill and brown iris; all the others have red eyes. In summer the bill is whitish with a black band encircling it; the throat is black; the eye encircled by a whitish ring; the breast and sides are brownish-gray. In winter they are brownish-black above and dull white below, with the breast and sides washed with brown. Young birds have more or less distinct whitish stripes on the head.
Notes.—A loud, ringing “kow-kow-kow-kow (repeated many times and ending in) kow-uh, kow-uh.”
Nest.—Of decayed rushes floating in reed-grown ponds or edges of lakes. The pile is slightly hollowed and, in this, the 5 to 8 eggs are laid; the bottom of the nest is always wet and the eggs are often partly in the water; they are usually covered with a wet mass when the bird is away. Brownish-white (1.70 × 1.15).
Range.—Whole of N. A., breeding locally and usually in pairs or small colonies.
LOONS—Family Gavidæ
LOON; GREAT NORTHERN DIVER
7. Gavia immer. 31 to 35 inches.
In form, loons resemble large grebes, but their feet are full webbed like those of a duck; they have short, stiff tails and long, heavy, pointed bills. They have no tufts or ruffs in breeding season, but their plumage changes greatly. The common loon is very beautifully and strikingly marked with black and white above, and white below; the head is black, with a crescent across the throat and a ring around the neck. In winter, they are plain gray above and white below.
Loons are fully as expert in diving and swimming as are the grebes. They are usually found in larger, more open bodies of water.
Notes.—A loud, quavering, drawn-out “wah-hoo-o-o.”
Nest.—Sometimes built of sticks, and sometimes simply a hollow in the sand or bank under overhanging bushes, usually on an island. The 2 eggs are brownish with a few black specks (3.50 × 2.25).
Range.—N. A., breeding from northern U. S. northwards; winters from northern U. S. southwards.
