. Bird-lore . he Audubon Societies Vol. XVI July—August, 1914 No. 4 At Home with a Hell-DiverSome Observations on the Nesting of the Pied-billed Grebe By ARTHUR A. ALLEN, Ithaca, N. photographs by the author FEW birds are more widely distributed than the Pied-billed from the region of the Great Slave Lake to Chile and Argen-tina, it differs from most birds in breeding throughout its range. Itis, indeed, rather localin its distribution, andin some places almostabsent; but the pond,lake, or stream thathas not had its Hell-diver, at least duringthe period of migration,is ve
. Bird-lore . he Audubon Societies Vol. XVI July—August, 1914 No. 4 At Home with a Hell-DiverSome Observations on the Nesting of the Pied-billed Grebe By ARTHUR A. ALLEN, Ithaca, N. photographs by the author FEW birds are more widely distributed than the Pied-billed from the region of the Great Slave Lake to Chile and Argen-tina, it differs from most birds in breeding throughout its range. Itis, indeed, rather localin its distribution, andin some places almostabsent; but the pond,lake, or stream thathas not had its Hell-diver, at least duringthe period of migration,is very exceptional. Itis common, it is wellknown, if familiaritywith its name impliesknowledge of it, andyet it has been one ofthe least studied ofour familiar birds. Ob-servations on its nest-ing habits have beenextremely desultory;careful studies have asyet not been made. Nor is this with-out reason. Few birds offer greater difficul- ^jjg ^^^j ^^ ^^^ hell-diver, a floating ties to the ornitholo- mass of debris. 244 Bird - Lore gist who would become familiar with their lives. During their migrationthey are conspicuous enough, floating about on the surface of the water,sinking from sight when intently watched, or diving with a saucy flip of thefeet at the discharge of a gun. But as soon as the breeding season has begun,no bird is more wary or difficult to observe. Occasionally their peculiar softlove-notes float out from the reeds to indicate their presence, or a few widen-ing circles on the surface of the pond mark the spot from which the watchfulbird has espied us, but it is rarely indeed that we can sit and watch them as wewould other birds. I have known of three pairs nesting about a small andmuch-frequented pond, with scarcely a person suspecting their presence; even though one nest,sheltered by only a fewrushes, was almost con-spicuous from the pathnot fifty feet one for a momentassumed that the float-ing pile of debris,anchored near the outeredge of the rushes, and
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