LOONS 9 



Nest. — A floating or anchored raft of water-soaked plant stems among- 

 tules in shallow water. Eggs : 4 to 8, soiled whitish. 



Every boy who has carried a gun and crept through tall grass to 

 the edges of ponds and lakes, or has followed the creeks, cutting 

 from bend to bend, and peering cautiously up stream and down, 

 has found himself more than once face to face with a little gray 

 duck, — only it was n't a duck — which when he raised his gun dived 

 just as he pulled the trigger, so the shot scattered over the sur- 

 face of the water. No amount of Avaiting or searching the banks 

 did any good, — the bird was never seen again, dead or alive. There 

 was a mystery about it, and when some one older and wiser than 

 he told him it was a water witch or hell diver, the mystery was 

 only half solved. Where did it go? How could it stay imder 

 water through the half hour that he waited for it to come to the 

 surface ? Had he been just around the next bend he might possibly 

 have seen a gray bill and a pair of dark eyes that came up out of 

 the water close to the bank, stayed just long enough for a good 

 breath of air, and then disappeared for another long swim below the 

 surface. 



Fortunately for .the dabchick, its dress is all in dull colors, and as 

 no one wants to borrow its plumes it may be hoped that, like the 

 poor, the little plebeian may be always with us. Veknon Bailey. 



FAMILY GAVIIDiE : LOONS. 



GENUS GAVIA. 



General Characters. — Tail feathers short and stiff ; front toes fully 

 webbed, hind toe small ; head and neck velvety, never crested. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Tarsus longer than inner toe and claw lumme. p. 11. 



r. Tarsus shorter than inner toe and claw. 



2. Head and neck black imber, p. 0. 



2'. Back of head and neck smoky gray. 

 3. Larger, wing 12,r)5, back of head dark gray . arctica. p. 10. 

 3'. Smaller, wing 11.54. back of head light gray . . pacifica, p. ](>. 



7. Gavia imber (Gmm.). Loon: Great Northern Diver. 



Adults in summer plumage. — Head and neck velvety black, glossed with 

 green ; throat and sides of neck crossed by series 

 of white streaks ; breast wliite ; back black, 

 spotted with wliite. Winter plumage and young : 

 back slaty, without white spots ; throat white. 

 Length : 2S-3(;, wing 14.()(), bill ;'..<»T. 



Distribution. — Northern part of nortliern hemi- ^.-jg .j4 



sphere, breeding in the northern United States 

 and northward ; south in winter to Gulf of Me.vico and Lower California. 



