Podilceps auritus
Order Podicipediformes
Family Podicipedidae
Adult in late spring.— Top of head and hind neck black; two patches of light reddish-brown back of eye; sides of head and throat black; the feathers on the sides of the head stand out and form broad tufts; fore neck below the throat and flanks reddish-brown; back and wings blackish; wing-patch white.
Adult in winter and Immature.— Top of head, hind neck, back, and wings blackish; throat and sides of head below eye white; fore neck below throat lightly washed with dusky; rest of under parts silvery-white; wing-patch white.
Nest, a bed of reeds, often floating.
Eggs, dull white.
The Horned Grebe is a common migrant along the seacoast in October and November, and in March and April; it also occurs as a migrant on inland waters, especially in the autumn, but except on large streams and lakes is not nearly so common inland as the preceding species. Along the sea-coast it is a common winter visitant; it breeds sparingly in northeastern Maine (Knight).
It is occasionally seen in spring in the breeding plumage, when its “ruff” of black and yellowish-brown is a striking sight; but ordinarily it is blackish-brown above and white below. It may always be distinguished from the preceding species by the pure white of its under parts, and when it opens its wings by the white wing-patch.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)