LOON. 389 



northern of the States, and probably in the inland seas of the 

 St. Lawrence, along the whole Canadian line, they pass the 

 period of reproduction. They have been known to breed as 

 far south as the Fame Isles, on the coast of Northumberland, 

 along with the Eider Ducks, with which they also associate on 

 the shores of Labrador. In the Hebrides they are common 

 in the summer season, as well as in Norway, Sweden, and 

 Russia, from all which countries they seldom migrate to any 

 considerable distance, being only accidental passengers on the 

 coasts of the ocean ; the young only are seen, and rarely, on 

 the lakes of Germany, France, and Switzerland, but in those 

 regions the old are unknown. In the United States, from the 

 superior severity of the winters, the young, and even occasion- 

 ally the old, are seen to migrate nearly, if not quite, to the 

 estuary of the Mississippi. 



The Loon, cautious, vigilant, and fond of the security at- 

 tending upon soHtude, generally selects, with his mate, some 

 lonely islet, or the borders of a retired lake far from the 

 haunts of men ; here, on the ground, contiguous to the water, 

 they construct their rude and grassy nest. About the nth 

 of June, through the kindness of Dr. T. W. Harris, I received 

 three eggs which had been taken from the nest of a Loon, 

 made in a hummock, or elevated grassy hillock, at Sebago 

 Pond, in New Hampshire. These were about the size of the 

 eggs of a Goose, of a dark, smoky olive, coarsely blotched 

 nearly all over with umber-brown spots. The males, after the 

 period of incubation, secede from their mates, and associate 

 by themselves in the bays and estuaries near to the sea. They 

 soon after moult, and become so 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 begin 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 inca- 

 pacitated, to rise from the ground. When approached, they 



