LOON, OR GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 515 



bare of feathers as to be unable to rise from the water. 

 The young, after being duly attended by the female parent, 

 disperse with her towards the sea. Instinctively warned of 

 the approach of frost, they avoid its consequences by slow 

 but efficient migrations. As soon as the fish begins to fail, 

 the young unable or unwilling to fly, are sometimes seen 

 waddling from one pond to another, and in this situation are 

 easily captured, as they refuse, or are incapacitated to rise 

 from the ground. When approached, they utter a long 

 drawn melancholy scream, like 6 ooh, with a shrill loud, 

 sighing and rising note. Now and then, as if a call upon the 

 parent, the tone is broken almost in the manner of running 

 the finger across the mouth while uttering a sound. A 

 young bird of this kind which I obtained in the salt marsh 

 at Chelsea Beach, and transferred to a fish pond, made a 

 good deal of plaint, and would sometimes wander out of his 

 more natural element and hide and bask in the grass. On 

 these occasions, he lay very still until nearly approached, 

 and then slid into the pond and uttered his usual plaint. 

 When out at any distance he made the same cautious efforts 

 to hide, and would commonly defend himself in great anger, 

 by darting at the intruder, and striking powerfully with his 

 dagger-like bill. This bird, with a pink colored iris like 

 albinos, appeared to suffer from the glare of broad day-light, 

 and was inclined to hide from its effects, but became very 

 active towards the dusk of evening. The pupil of the eye 

 in this individual, like that of nocturnal animals, appeared 

 indeed dilatable ; and the one in question often put down his 

 head and eyes into the water to observe the situation of his 

 prey. This bird was a most expert and indefatigable diver, 

 and would remain down sometimes for several minutes, often 

 swimming under water, and as it were flying, with the velo- 

 city of an arrow in the air. Though at length inclined to 

 be docile, and showing no alarm when visited, it constantly 



