jBtote0 from JTielD anD ^tutip 



Observations on a Tame Loon 



A Loon, or (/real Xorthcrn Diver, was 

 received at the Xew York Atiuariuni in 

 September, 1907, where it was kept in 

 one of the kirge salt-water pools for about 

 a month, when it was sent to the Zoo- 

 logical Park. It came from the United 

 States Fisheries Station at Woods Hole, 

 Mass., where it had been kejjt all summer 

 in a large salt water l)asin adjoining the 

 wharf piers. 



The Aquarium pool, which is twenty- 

 eight feet long and three feet deep, con- 

 tained at the same time a collection of 

 dogfish (Squalus), skates and sculpins. 

 Although the Loon w-as supplied with an 

 abundance of live killifishes, its activity 

 led it to strike frequently at the large 

 fishes, and it succeeded in swallowing one 

 of the sculpins with a head larger than its 

 own. The other sculpins were too large to 

 be swallowed. 



.\lthough supplied with a dry platform 

 on which to rest, it never left the water 

 of its own accord. Its breast plumage 

 showing a tendency to become water 

 logged, the attendants removed it each 

 evening to a box of dry excelsior, where it 

 spent the night. It never sat up in any 

 way, either on the platform or in the box, 

 always resting on its breast except when 

 it rolled upon its side for the purpose of 

 preening its under plumage. When in the 

 water the bird frequently turned almost 

 on its back when dressing its breast feath- 

 ers. Rolling over on one side, with one 

 foot still submerged, it swam slowly in a 

 circle during the process, the other foot 

 being held entirely clear of the water. 



In exploring the bottom of the pool, or 

 in pursuit of killifishes, it swam under 

 water, with the wings closely folded — never 

 in use, and it spent much time swimming 

 on the -surface with the eyes submerged, 

 watching the large fishes below. The Loon 

 frequently shook the water from its feath- 

 ers by rising to a vertical position, as Ducks 



do, and llajjijing the wings, while its feet 

 beat a lively tattoo in maintaining the 

 positi(jn. 



.\lthough apparently full grown, the 

 characteristic black neck-ring had not 

 yet appeared. 



Its only note was a low murmur when 

 the attendants approached. The bird 

 never made any attempt to fly and was 

 quite tame, not attem])ting to bite when 

 handle.l. 



In referring to the bird's ability to sit 

 erect or stand on its feet, Audubon writes 

 of a Loon wounded by his son, that "it 

 immediately rose erect on its feet and, in- 

 clining its body slightly forward, ran or 

 stumbled, rose again and getting along 

 in this manner, actually reached the water 

 before my son." He says that the female, 

 frightened from her nest, "makes at once 

 for the water in a scrambling and sliding 

 manner, pushing herself along the ground. " 



Audubon's remark on the female Loon 

 corresponds with my own observation 

 on the wild bird leaving its nest. 



Montagu says of Loons, ''in swim- 

 ming and diving only the legs are used 

 and not the wings." While .\udubon 

 writes: "having myself seen Loons pass 

 and repass under boats . . . and pro- 

 pel themselves both with their feet and 

 their half-expanded wings, I am inclined 

 to believe that when not wounded and 

 when pursuing their prey they usually 

 employ all the limbs." — C. H. Town- 

 send, New York City. 



When Doctors Disagree 



Ornithologia Faceta 



About May 12, 190S, I had the good 

 fortune to secure three specimens of a 

 bird whose identity was unknown to me. 

 These specimens were taken on lower 

 Broadway, Xew York City, a locality 

 peculiarly ric h in puzzling forms. To 

 establish the position of the species in our 

 avi-fauna, and to jjlace the specimens 



(171) 



