236 Wetmore, Birds of Lake Burford, N. Mex. [April 



in rapidity as they progressed and the last given more slowly with equal 

 intervals between them. This was varied to coo-coo-coo-coo-qua, coo-coo- 

 qua, coo-coo-qua continued for some time, the qua note being prolonged 

 and with a curious rising inflection. These calls often were given while 

 the bird was in the open. The head and neck were held erect in calling 

 and as each note was uttered the bill was thrown up. Another note given 

 usually from the shelter of the rushes was a loud laughing hah hah hah hah 

 hah hah, that was harsh and raucous to an extreme. In addition to the 

 calls described above they occasionally uttered a peculiar low whistled 

 note. 



The mating displays of this species while not as varied as those of the 

 Eared Grebe were strange and interesting. A pair resting quietly in open 

 water sometimes dived and then came up to splatter off for a hundred feet 

 or so, across the surface with flapping wings with the male in pursuit of the 

 female and about ten feet behind. At the close of this the male gave a 

 series of loud sonorous calls. Frequently he nipped off a length of tule 

 stem twelve or fifteen inches long, holding it by one end in his bill, while 

 he swam about or even dived. Again a pair swam toward one another with 

 heads and necks held erect. When about a foot apart they stopped and 

 then swung half around and presented their tails to one another. At the 

 same time the male held his wing tips slightly raised, the feathers of his 

 back elevated and the sides of his neck puffed out while both birds turned 

 the head alertly from side to side, though seemingly they regarded some 

 distant object rather than each other. In a second or two they swung 

 back, facing one another again, continued this turning half around and 

 then back, as though pivoted in one spot, at ten or fifteen second intervals 

 for nearly ten minutes. The male was more regular in turning than the 

 female and she was frequently out of time with him. Finally the female 

 lowered her head while the male continued to display for a few seconds 

 longer, after which the two swam back into the shelter of the rushes. 



When at rest these birds spent much time in preening and when feathers 

 were loosened in this process (as many were) they were seized, dabbled in 

 the water and swallowed. Eared Grebes did the same but often tried to 

 shake the feathers free from their bills, usually not swallowing them unless 

 they adhered, though I saw one Eared Grebe discard a feather which was 

 immediately picked up and swallowed by its mate. 



The Pied-billed Grebes like the preceding species sunned themselves by 

 resting in sheltered bays with their feathers fluffed out. In doing this 

 they floated with their backs to the sun with the wing tips and feathers 

 well elevated to catch the warming rays so that at a distance they looked 

 very large and bulk v. 



On June 18, I found a brood of newly hatched young near the lower is- 

 land in the south lake. As I approached the rushes bordering the shore 

 a female Grebe swam out calling cuh kow cuh cuh cuh and at intervals, 

 rising threateningly on the water, made a great boiling noise by treading 



