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 192 THE CONDOR VOL. Xll The young birds have a peculiar habit of riding on the back of the parent birds. This is apparently done for the 'purpose of imaginary protection to the young, as we only observed it when broods of young were surprized close to the shore, and were seeking safety in the middle of the lakes. At such times the par- ent would swim close alongside the young bird and by raising the fore part of the body out of the water would sub. merge the posterior portion, upon which the young- sters would scramble with alacrity. The wings of the parent were then raised something after the fashion of a brooding hen, and often several babies would be cuddled comfortably beneath them. It was quite comical to see a well laden parent bird attempt to take on an additional chick, as this often precipitated the entire brood into the water, and this was always the signal for a wild scramble back on "board ship", during which rather strenuous performance the doting parent was the victim of an animated mauling. This additional weight on the parents' back Fig. 63. NEST AND YOUNG OI PIED-BILLED GREBE did not seem to affect their swimming powers, and the speed with which a mother grebe carrying a half a dozen babies could leave danger behind was surprizing. During the first week in July broods of young grebes were very much in evi- dence on all the lakes and ponds, trailing along thru the water after the parents in single file. The broods ranged in size from freshly hatcht babes half the size of a tiny chick to ungainly three-fourths grown youngsters, and many times mixt broods of two or three sizes were seen swimming about together. Broods of young grebes continued to increase in abundance and were very conspicuous on all the lakes and ponds thruout the second and third weeks of July, after which time they gradually decfeast in numbers; and the last birds noted were seen October 3, some little time after the bulk of the species had left for their winter homes. On July 6, 1907, we had several distinct views of an albino Pied-billed Grebe,