V5 Me _ Roserts, Nesting Habits of Franklin's Gull. 281 
The note of these little Gulls is a faint peep, but weak as it is, 
_ it contains a plain suggestion of the harsh scream of the adult, 
just as the nestling Grebe and gaudy little Coot mimic the cries 
of the parent. 
With all this nest building, nest cleaning, and the varied pa- 
rental duties devolving upon these birds of trim and delicate attire, 
they always appeared immaculately clean. As they stood on their 
nests, or hovered overhead facing the sun, the exquisite pink of 
the breast was plainly visible at a distance of fifty or sixty feet, 
and the picture they presented of dove-like beauty and grace of 
movement was unexcelled by anything we had seen elsewhere. 
This superficial resemblance to a Dove, both when sitting and 
on the wing, is very great and has given rise to the popular name by 
which they are best known among the farmers through the region 
where they dwell —‘ Prairie Dove.’ Hovering lightly on the wing, 
resting buoyantly on the water, poising as they rise, or alight with 
upraised wings, or grouped about their nests they are the very 
perfection of grace and beauty and could not fail to attract the 
attention and elicit the admiration of the most indifferent of ob- 
servers. 
This colony of Franklin’s Gulls had as associates and intimate 
neighbors many Coots, Pied-billed Grebes, Black Terns, a few 
Forster’s Terns and, most notable of all, because so unexpected 
in this place, a colony of American Eared Grebes (Colymbus nigri- 
collis californicus). ‘There were a hundred or more of these latter 
birds and they had established themselves in the very midst of the 
Gull colony. Their nests, which were the very poorest structures 
that could be called by such a name, were disposed in two or three 
principal groups, were close together, and were intimately mingled 
with the Gulls’ nests. Perhaps because they had drifted, some of 
them rested directly against Gulls’ nests, but they had not been 
abandoned. The nests were partially submerged platforms of 
green vegetation pulled up from the bottom and were without even 
as much form and stability as is usually possessed by the rude 
structure of the Pied-billed. The eggs were half under water, and 
it seemed a marvel how they’stayed on the loose platforms at all. 
They were only imperfectly covered. These Grebes, unlike their 
Pied-billed relatives, stayed close by their nests and for the most 
