OUR COMMON BIRDS. THE WATER BIRDS. DIVING BIRDS. (ORDER PYGOPODES.) Grebes. (Family Podicipid^.) The study of water birds requires special advantages and equipments, among which are a suitable location, much time, and a gun. Our coasts and shores are be- coming so popular as " resorts " that many of the former haunts of waterfowl are now thickly populated, and the birds are comparatively rare. Furthermore, the larger number of our water birds nest in the far North and winter in the South, visiting the Middle States only while on their migrations. It is evident, therefore, that if we would become familiar with these birds, we must devote ourselves especially to their pursuit. There are, however, some species, notably those which frequent bodies of fresh water and nest in this latitude, Pied-biUed Grebe, ^^^"ch deserve to be ranked among our Podiiymbus podiceps. commoner bii'ds. Of these, one of the Plate II. i^gg^ known, by name at least, is the Pied-billed Grebe, whose aquatic powers have given it the expressive title of Hell-diver. Under favorable conditions this little Grebe may breed anywhere from the Argentine Republic to British Amer- ica, but in the Middle States it occurs chiefly as a spring and fall migrant. When nesting, a quiet, reedy pond or lake is chosen for a home, the nest being made on a pile of decaying vegetation. The eggs, four to eight in num- ber, are dull white, more or less stained by the nesting material, which the parent bird rarely fails to place over 84
