AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

1212. Colymbus adamsi

1212. White-billed Diver.
COLYMBUS ADAMSI.
Colymbus adamsi, G. R. Gray, P.Z.S. 1859, p. 167 ; Collett, Ibis, 1894, p. 269, pl. viii. ; Seebohm, B. Jap. Emp. p. 362 ; Tacz. F. O. Sib. O. p. 1259 ; Dresser, ix. p. 413, pl. 722 ; Ogilvie Grant, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxvi. p. 500 ; Saunders, p. 711 ; Ridgway, p. 7 ; Lilford, vi. p. 102, pl. 45.
Bolchoi-Gagara, Russ. ; Ovankets jouku, Chukch.
Male ad. (Russian America.) Differs from C. glacialis in having the white spots on the back and wings larger, the upper throat collar with fewer and larger stripes, and the bill long, straight, and whitish yellow. Culmen 4.3, gape 4.7, wing 15.25, tail 2.6, tarsus 3.5 inch.
Hab. North-western North America and Northern Asia, ranging west to Norway ; in winter occurring south to Japan and as a rare straggler in Britain.
In general habits this species does not differ from C. glacialis, and its eggs resemble those of that species.
Grebe huppe, French ; Mergulhao de crista, Portug. ; Somor-mujo, Span. ; Svasso maggiore, Ital. ; Gehaubter-Stcissfuss, German. Fuut, Dutch ; Toppet-Lappedykker, Dan. ; Toplom, Norweg. ; Skagg-Dopping, Swed. ; Silkkikuikka, Finn. ; Gagara-khokhlataia, Russ.
Male ad. (Volga). Crown and occipital tufts greyish-greenish black ; from the base of the upper mandible a reddish line passes over the eye to the white on the cheeks ; chin and fore part of the face white ; ruff light brownish red anteriorly ; greyish black posteriorly ; hind neck greyish black, the fore part white on the sides, tinged with buffy brown ; upper parts greyish black with some brownish grey margins ; anterior edge of wing, the short secondaries, and a few scapulars white ; under parts silvery white, the flanks buffy brown ; bill blackish brown, yellowish at the base and along the lower mandible ; a bare space from the eye to the mouth dusky green ; legs dusky green externally, greenish yellow internally ; iris carmine-red. Culmen 2.1, wing 7.4, tarsus 2.5 inch. Female smaller and with the ruff and occipital tufts less developed.
Hab. Central and Southern Europe, north to Britain and Scandinavia ; Africa, south to the Cape of Good Hope ; Asia, north to Mongolia, east to Japan, and south to India ; Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.
Essentially a water bird this Grebe is an expert swimmer and diver, but clumsy on land. When alarmed it seeks safety by diving, but on the wing it is tolerably swift. Its food consists of small fish, frogs, insects, and larvae, which it captures chiefly under water. Its note is a loud, deep keck, keck, keck, and its pairing cry a loud kreworr, kreworr. Its nest is a heap of floating aquatic herbage, and its 3 or 4 eggs, which are usually deposited in May, are dull chalky white with a yellowish green tinge, and measure about 2.20 by 1.44.

BookTitle: 
A Manual Of Palaearctic Birds
Reference: 
Dresser, Henry Eeles. A Manual of Palaearctic Birds. Vol. 2. 1903.
Title in Book: 
1212. Colymbus adamsi
Book Author: 
H. E. Dresser
CatNo: 
1212
Year: 
1903
Page No: 
877
Common name: 
White Billed Diver
M_ID: 
1661
M_CN: 
Yellow-billed Loon
M_SN: 
Gavia adamsii
Volume: 
Vol. 2
id: 
11086

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