LOONS 



13 



resting flat on their breasts at the end of a long 

 sandy point. Cripples instinctively seek the 

 shore when sorely wounded, but on our coast a 

 Loon must keep well ofT shore to insure its safety, 

 and probably few but cripples ever land on shores 

 frequented by man. 



The Loon's nest is usually a mere hollow in 

 the bog or shore near the water's edge on some 

 island in a lake or pond. Sometimes the nest is 

 lined with grasses and bits of turf : more rarely 

 it is a mere depression on the top of a muskrat's 

 house, and more rarely still ft is placed on the 

 shore of the lake or in some debduchhig sli'cam. 

 Where the birds are not much disturbed, and 

 where food is plentiful, two or three pairs some- 

 times nest on the same inland. No doubt there 

 was a time when nearly every northern pond of 

 more than a few acres contained its pair of 

 Loons, in the breeding season, and this is true 

 to-dav of ponds in parts of some Canadian Prov- 

 inces. The nest is usually so near the margin 

 that the bird can spring directly into the water, 

 but sometimes in summer the water recedes until 

 the nest is left some dibtance inland. 



The Loon is a clumsy, awkward traveler upon 

 land, where, when hurried, it flounders forward, 

 using both wings and feet, .\udubon, liowever, 

 says that his son, J. W. Audubon, winged a Loon 

 which ran about one hiuidred yards and reached 

 the water before it was overtaken, lis usual 

 method of taking to the water from its nest is 

 by plunging forward and sliding on its breast. 

 It cannot rise from the land, hence the necessity 

 of having the nest at the water's edge. 



When the young are hatched the mother carries 

 them about on her back a few days, after which 

 they remain afloat much of the time until they 

 are fully grown. If food becomes scarce in their 

 native pond they sometimes leave it and travel 

 overland to another. Dr. James P. Hatch of 

 Si^ringfield, Mass., says that early in the morning 

 the parents and the well-grown voung run races 

 on the lake, using their broad paddles for pro- 

 pulsion and their half-extended wings for partial 

 su])port. Starting all together they race down 

 the lake, and then, turning, rush back to their 

 starting point. Such exercise-- nn rioubt 

 strengthen the young birds for the long flights to 

 come. 



The Loon finds some difficulty in rising from 

 the water, and is obliged to run along the sur- 

 face, flapjiing its short wings, until it gets impetus 

 enough to rise. It is said that it cannot rise at 

 all unless there is wind to assist it. lt>< groat 

 weight (from eight to nearly twelve pounds) 

 and its short wings make flight laborious, but its 



rapid wing-beats carry it through the air at great 

 speed. When it alights it often shoots spirally 

 down from a great height, and plunges into the 

 water like an arrow from a bow. It lands with 

 a splash, and shoots along the surface until its 

 impetus is arrested by the resistance of the water. 



The Loon is almost unexcelled as a diver. It 

 is supposed to be able to disappear so suddenly 

 at the flash of a rifle as to dodge the bullet, 

 unless the shooter is at point-l)lank range, but 

 when two or three crack shots surround a small 

 pond in which a Loon is resting it can usually be 

 secured by good strategy. I once saw a Loon 

 killed on the water with .a shotgun, but the bird 

 was taken at a disadvantage. It was on the 

 Banana River, Fla., in January. 1900. and it had 

 followed the fish (which were then very numer- 

 ous) into the shallow water near the shore. 

 Shoals extended out from ihe shore fullv three 

 hundred yards, so that the bird, in diving and 

 swimming under water, could not use its wings to 

 advantage. It was much impeded by the shoals 

 and the vegetation on the bottom, and in swim- 

 ming was so near the surface that its course could 

 be followed readily by the ripple that it made. 

 Two strong rowers were thus enabled to follow 

 and overtake it. It escaped the first charge of 

 shot, but its pursuers came so close the second 

 time that the shot went home. In deep water, 

 where the bird can use its wings and fly under 

 water like a bolt from a crossbow, it can easily 

 elude a boat. In old times the gunner used to 

 " toll " the Loon within gunshot by concealing 

 himself and waving a brightly colored handker- 

 chief, while imitating the bird's call. But this 

 will rarely succeed to-day in luring one within 

 reach of a shotgun. 



Loons are rather solitary in the autumn mi- 

 gration. They leave their northern homes and 

 some begin to move southward in September, 

 but many remain in the northern lakes until the 

 ice comes. They move south along the larger 

 rivers of the interior, but most of those near the 

 Atlantic take the sea as their highway. 



The Loon feeds very largely on fish. As it 

 rests lightlv on the surface it frccpiently thrusts 

 its head into the water and looks about in search 

 of its prev. When pursuing swift fish under 

 water it often uses its wings, by means of which 

 it can overtake the swiftest. This has been re- 

 peatedly observed. ll can travel much faster 

 under water in this manner than it can on the 

 surface by use of the feet alone. 



EDW.^KD ITnwK Forrush, in Game Birds, 

 IVild-Fo7i'l and Shore Birds. 



