78 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
but if you make a suspicious move, after turning alertly from side to 
side scrutinizing you, it will quickly curve forward and dive below, 
where it swims with both wings and feet under water. 
In the Yellowstone, Mr. M. P. Skinner has found it common not only 
on alkali or reedy ponds but occasionally on running streams. At 
Mesilla Park, Professor Merrill says, this interesting bird may be met 
with commonly, summer and winter, in unfrequented ponds and shal¬ 
lows where the rushes and cat-tails are thick and extensive enough to 
afford seclusion and good feeding and nesting grounds. 
At Lake Burford, in the summer of 1918, Doctor Wetmore wrote: 
“At dusk the birds gather in flocks on a broad open expanse to secure 
the ants and beetles, which, flying out from the sage-grown hills sur¬ 
rounding the lake, are entrapped and drowned in the water. Gnats 
and mayflies that emerge in myriads from the water also furnish an 
eagerly sought supply of food (1924, p. 17). 
At the lake Doctor Wetmore says, small flocks containing unmated 
birds were found in open bays until June 2, but after June 5 they were 
always found in pairs. The courtship displays witnessed were of 
peculiar interest. In describing one of the most characteristic acts 
of the Eared, he wrote—“Suddenly the male assumed an attentive 
attitude facing the female with crest and cheeks flaring, head erect, 
neck extended slightly forward, wings half opened with the tips raised 
so as to display all of the handsome markings to the best advantage. 
The female then dove, remaining under twelve or fifteen seconds, while 
the male maintained his position, watching intently. As the female 
emerged she came up slowly a few feet away with head and neck ex¬ 
tended until when free of the water she was standing bolt upright on the 
surface treading water rapidly with her whole body exposed. ... On 
perceiving her [the male] rose assuming the same attitude as that held 
by his mate, and the two, still bolt upright, advanced slowly toward one 
another, until finally their breasts touched, when their feet, suddenly 
moving more rapidly, broke at the surface, making a great boiling in the 
water. This performance was accompanied by constantly varied 
trilling and whistling notes. The birds held this upright position for a 
few seconds with heads turning rapidly from side to side as if pivoted on 
the neck, then sank slowly down to the usual resting position on the 
water and at once began to preen the feathers of the sides of the breast 
and neck. . . Rival males often threatened one another by half 
extending their wings and then closing them for two or three times as 
they faced one another, or ran at each other striking with their bills. 
. . . Females too fought to some extent when their mates paid attention 
to others. . . Though these grebes were paired early, actual nest 
building did not start until about June 13. . . Nests were begun where 
the water was from three to five feet deep. The females seemed to do 
