H 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



The Yellow-billed Loon, {Gaz'ia adaiiisi) 

 ^^'hite-billed Loon, or Adams's Loon, as it is 

 variously called, is of the same general colora- 

 tion as the Common Loon. The throat and neck 

 patches, however, are smaller and the bill, which 

 is larger and differently shaped, is pale yellowish 

 white. It is subject to corresponding seasonal 

 changes. 



It breeds in northern Siberia, on the islands 



north of Europe, and in North America from 

 northwestern Alaska, northern Mackensie, and 

 Boothia Peninsula south to the mouth of the 

 Yukon and to Great Slave Lake. Its nests and 

 eggs, as far as known, are similar to those of the 

 more familar Loon. In migration the Yellow- 

 billed is found a little south of its breeding range, 

 and sijeciniens have been reported from Colorado 

 and Greenland. 



BLACK-THROATED LOON 

 Gavia arctica {Linuu-us) 



A. O. V. -\umljer 9 ."^ee Color Plate 2 



Other Names. — .Arctic Loon; Arctic Diver; Ulack- 

 throated Diver. 



General Description. — Length. 27 to 30 inches. In 

 Su.m.mer: Upper parts, glossy greenish-black with 

 white spots; lower parts white. In Winter: Upper 

 parts, grayish-brown without spots. 



Color. — .Adults in Summer: Chin, throat, and front 

 of neck, purplish-black, shading gradually into clear 

 soft warm gray of crown, back of head, and hindncck, 

 deepest on forehead and face, lightest behind, and sep- 

 arated from black of front of neck by white streaks; 

 a short crescent of white streaks across upper throat; 

 sides of breast and neck striped with pure white and 

 glossy black, the black diminishing behind into pure 

 white of under parts; upper parts, glossy greenish- 

 black- each feather on shoulders and back with two 

 whit* square spots near end forming traverse rows ; 

 wing-coverts thickly specked with small oval white 

 spots ; a narrow dusky band across lower belly ; under 

 tail-coverts, with dusky spots ; bill, black ; feet, dusky ; 

 iris. red. Adults in Winter, and YouN(i: Upper parts 



of head and neck, dark grayish-brown ; sides of head, 

 grayish-white finely streaked with brown ; upper parts, 

 hrownish-hlack, feathers ivith broad gray margins, giv- 

 ing a scaly appearance : rump, brownish-gray; pri- 

 maries and their coverts, brownish-black; secondaries 

 and tail-feathers, dusky margined with gray; forepart 

 of neck, grayish-white faintly dotted with brown, its 

 sides streaked with same ; lower parts, pure white ; 

 sides of body and lower tail-coverts, dusky edged with 

 bluish-gray; bill, light bluish-gray, dusky on ridge; 

 feet, dusky ; iris, brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: A depression in the tundra 

 or constructed roughly of decayed vegetation. Eccs ; 

 2. cleep anilier to pale greenish-gray. 



Distribution. — Northern part of iiortliern hemi- 

 sphere ; breeds from Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, west 

 along northern coast of Siberia, on islands north of 

 Europe, and from Cumberland Sound south to Ungava ; 

 winters in the southern Canadian provinces ; rarely 

 south to Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, northern Ohio, and 

 Long Island, N. Y. 



The general appearance of the Black-throated 

 Loon is like that of its relative, the Common 

 Loon, but it is somewhat smaller and not nearly 

 so well known in America since it is seldom seen 

 south of the northern States. There seems to be 

 no reliable record of its appearance south of 

 Long Island. Throughout the interior of Nor- 

 way and .Sweden and far up into Lapland, it 

 breeds quite commonly. It is considered to be of 

 rare occurrence in most parts of the British 

 Isles, but on the little islands in the fresh-water 

 lochs from central Scotland northward, and on 

 the Orkney and Shetland islands, may be found 

 its nests. 



Its habits also are like those of the larger mem- 



ber of its species. Its progress under water has 

 been estiiuated at not less than eight miles an 

 hour. 



The Pacific Loon or Pacific Diver ( Gavia 

 pacifica ) is confined to the West. It breeds 

 from Point Barrow, Banks Land, northern Mac- 

 kenzie, and Melville Peninsula, south to the base 

 of the Alaskan Peninsula, Great .Slave Lake, 

 and central Keewatin and winters along the Paci- 

 fic coast from southern British Columbia to 

 Lower California, and Guadalupe Island. In 

 coloration it is similar to the Black-throated 

 Loon, but the gray of the head averages lighter 

 and the light spots of the back larger and fewer 

 in number. 



