The usual vocal performance of these Grebes, so far as I was able to determine, is a sort of “ko-wee, ko-wee,” repeated at regular intervals. It might be compared to the squeak of a dry wheelbarrow producing one double squeak at each revolution of the wheel. It is however of a clearer quality than this comparison might indicate. Each “ko-wee” has rising inflection and its two syllables are run closely together, with the accent on the last syllable.
The remarkable change of manner which came over these birds as the moult began will be appreciated by reference to the tabulated schedule of visits. The pugnacious bravery of the female at her first nest is amply attested by the photographs, while the records of the second nest show that the birds rarely permitted themselves to be observed, even at a distance, although they had eggs as before.
These Horned Grebes were absolutely isolated so far as concerns other individuals of the species.[2] There were certainly no other Grebes in the slough. Their nesting associates were as follows: Red-winged Blackbird (_Agelaius phœniceus fortis_), about three pairs nesting; Sora Rail (_Porzana carolina_), three or four pairs nesting; Wilson’s Phalarope (_Steganopus tricolor_), several pairs; Killdeer (_Oxyechus vociferus_), one pair in evidence; Savannah Sparrows (_Passerculus sandwichensis alaudinus_) were present at the slough all summer; and a pair of Pintails (_Dafila acuta_) were believed to have a nest in an adjoining field. The adjoining prairie was monopolized, as usual, by the Horned Larks (_Otocoris alpestris leucolæma_) and Longspurs (_Calcarius ornatus_ and _Rhynchophanes mccowni_).
At the present writing this slough is dry; the road which passes through it is traveled every day by automobiles; and the spot where the Grebes established their home a year ago has now been plowed and planted.
[2] Mr. A. A. Saunders advises me that so far as he is aware this is the only record of nesting of the Horned Grebe in Montana, although he has found two previous records of occurrence of the species in the state.
HISTORICAL NOTES ON HARRIS’S SPARROW (_ZONOTRICHIA QUERULA_).
During the early decades of the nineteenth century when those pioneer ornithological enthusiasts, whose names and discoveries are familiar to all students of the science, were pushing beyond the frontiers in quest of new objects of study, the Kansas City region was the gateway to the wilderness and the very outpost of civilization. In this immediate neighborhood where the down-rushing Missouri is joined by the less turbulent Kaw, and where the great river bends finally to the east, were situated the frontier settlements of Independence, Fort Osage (Fort Clark, of Lewis and Clark), Westport, and the great Konzas Indian village, while a short distance up-stream were three other landmarks frequently mentioned by travelers. Fort Leavenworth, the mouth of Little Platte River, and the Black Snake Hills.