10 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



that they lay only two eggs, and that no nest is built, but a small 

 depression made in the gravel close to the waters of the lake. In 

 the Laurentian country the eggs are always placed on greenish 

 gravel and are hard to see. In two cases only have nests been 

 found on rock and these were close to the water. 



Breeding Notes. — Nest always placed near the water, and 

 composed of a little grass. Eggs two. Young usually hatched 

 the last week in June or first week in July. The young are quite 

 helpless for a few days, either riding on the mother's back or 

 hanging on to her tail. I have paddled up to them in a boat on 

 several occasions, and they have sat upon the water as helpless 

 as a leaf until I have taken them up in my hand. They soon 

 become able to take care of themselves and can swim and dive 

 nearly as well as the old one. Common throughout Labrador ; 

 one nest found, July 25th, 1896, on Clearwater lake, containing 

 two eggs in an advanced state of incubation. {Spreadboroiigh.) 



This bird breeds at the south end of Lake Manitoba. I have 

 also received the eggs from Morley in Alberta. It breeds com- 

 monly on the islands in the Muskoka lakes, Ontario. A clutch 

 of two eggs in my collection was taken on an island in Lake 

 Donaldson, near Buckingham, Quebec. The eggs were taken June 

 24th, 1895, by Mr. Warwick. This bird is a late breeder. {Rai?ie.) 



The nest of this species, if nest it can be called, is only a slight 

 hollow in the earth or ground within a short distance of the 

 water's edge. One found on the 21st June, 1897, ^t Lake of the 

 Woods, was within six inches of the water's edge. It was only a 

 slight hollow in the sand, and the two eggs were placed therein. 

 {G. R. White.) 



The loon still breeds in many of tjie retired lakes, and a pair or 

 two frequent the River St. Lawrence for this purpose between 

 Kingston and Brockville. I have found many of their nests and 

 noticed that they return to the same locality year after year even 

 when their eggs have been repeatedly taken. The situation chosen 

 varies ; sometimes it is on the shore of some out of-the-way 

 island, two or three feet from the water's edge. Several nests I 

 found consisted of a mass of weeds and bullrushes piled up in 

 three feet of water, so that a boat could be rowed alongside. They 

 are very punctual in their time of laying ; in one locality in the 



