Horned Grebe, or Dobchick, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 254.
Adult Male in Spring. Plate CCLIX. Fig.1.
Bill shorter than the head, straight, acute, rather slender. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight for one-half of its length, towards the end declinate and slightly convex, the ridge convex, the sides sloping, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute. Nasal groove broad, extending to beyond the middle of the mandible; nostrils subbasal, linear-elliptical, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle long and very narrow, the dorsal line short, ascending, straight, the sides erect, slightly convex, the edges sharp, inflected, the tip narrow, acute.
Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Neck rather long and slender. Body depressed. Feet large, short, placed far behind; tibia feathered to the joint; tarsus short, extremely compressed, anteriorly with a narrow scutellate ridge, laterally with numerous broad scutella; posteriorly with a narrow ridge having a double row of small prominent scales. Hind toe very small, with an inferior small membrane; fore toes long, the outer longest, scutellate above, united at the base by short webs, externally margined, internally with broad rounded expansions, which are marked with parallel oblique lines, and crenate on the edges. Claws flattened, that of the middle toe broadest, with an extremely thin broad terminal edge.
Plumage of the head and neck very soft and downy, of the breast and sides silky and highly glossed, of the abdomen downy, of the upper parts imbricated, but with loose edges. Wings small; primaries much curved, the first longest, the second almost equal. Tail, a small tuft of loose feathers. On the head, at this season, is a tuft of soft feathers on each side behind the eye, and a larger on each side of the upper part of the neck.
Bill bluish-black, its tip yellow. Short loral space bright carmine, as is the iris, its inner margin white; edges of eyelids greyish-blue. Feet dusky externally, internally and on the anterior and posterior ridges of the tarsus dull yellow; claws dusky. Forehead greyish-brown; upper parts of the head bluish-black, as are the sides, fore neck anteriorly, and the elongated ruff feathers; a broad band over the eyes, and the elongated tufts behind them yellowish-brown. Fore neck brownish-red; lower parts white, the sides reddish-brown; abdomen dull grey. The upper parts are brownish-black, the feathers edged with greyish, the middle secondary quills white.
Length to end of tail 14 3/4, to end of claws 19; extent of wings 25 1/2; wing from flexure 5 3/4; bill along the back 11/12, along the edge of lower mandible 1 1/4; tarsus 1 1/4; outer toe 1 10/12, its claw 3/12. Weight 14 oz.
Young Female in winter. Plate CCLIX. Fig. 2.
The feathers of the hind head are a little elongated, but at this age there are no tufts on the head. In other respects the plumage is as in the adult male. The bill is bluish-grey, as is the bare loral space; the eye bright carmine, the iris with an inner white edge; the feet bluish-grey. The upper part of the head, and the hind neck, are greyish-black, as are the upper parts in general. The feathers of the back edged with light grey. The throat, the sides of the head, a broad patch on each side of the neck nearly meeting behind, the breast white; the sides and downy feathers of the abdomen brownish-grey. Some of the secondaries are white, as in the adult male.