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JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



sound of our returned friend : and his 

 departure is to a degree governed by the 

 closing of the lakes late in the fall, and 

 more than once to my knowledge, some 

 young bird has remained in one of our 

 small ponds until Jack Frost caught him 

 in his crystal snare and exacted the pen- 

 alty, death. 



Though strong and rapid on the wing 

 they experience great difhculty in rising 

 from the water unless it be in the face 

 of a strong wind. Upon a calm day I 

 have seen them beat the lake with their 

 wings for more than a mile before thej' 

 could lift themselves above the surface, 

 a,nd then turning in their course, a flight 

 of another mile and return would ensue 

 before they had reached a sufficient 

 height to clear the tree-tops. 



I think Loons are mated before they 

 leave salt water and they are usually 

 seen in pairs throughout the season 

 unless there be a storm brewing when 

 they often become gregarious. Under 

 such conditions, late in August, I have 

 counted twenty-two in one flock. Here 

 in western Maine, the Loons end their 

 courtships early in June and select their 

 nesting sites, usually choosing a grassy 

 tussock in some marshy cove or on an 

 island shore, where they can easily 

 plunge from the nest into the water, for 

 masters of the situation as these birds 

 are when once on the wing or in the 

 water, nothing can be more awkward on 

 the land. The tussock, often being 

 slightly hollowed and sometimes lined 

 with a very few reed stalks and grasses 

 is ready for the large, thick-shelled. 

 olive-brown eggs, usually two in num- 

 ber, though sometimes one egg consti- 

 tutes the set. I have never found a 

 nest that contained three eggs although 

 some authors report that number. I 



believe, though I cannot present the 

 proof, that when either sudden high 

 water or the hand of a collector robs the 

 bird of her eggs, that she sometimes de- 

 posits another set later, for I have found 

 nests containing freshly laid eggs, from 

 early June until late July. Having 

 once chosen a nesting site the Loons are 

 loath to abandon it. I recall a little 

 islet near the head of Long Lake, that 

 is, perhaps, a rod in length by three feet 

 in width at the widest place, and so near 

 the shore that one can almost jump the 

 channel. Here, on a mound constructed 

 on the water-washed root of a small 

 maple, a pair of Loons to ni}^ certain 

 knowledge, deposited their eggs for six 

 consecutive years, although each year 

 the nest was despoiled by the ruthless 

 hand of some collector. It is doubtful 

 if they would have become discouraged 

 even then, had not high water flooded 

 the nest one year just before the build- 

 ing season, forcing them to seek a new 

 location. During the breeding season 

 the birds spend much of their time in 

 the vicinity of their nest and one at all 

 acquainted with their habits can usually 

 locate it without difficulty. I am quite 

 certain that both sexes share the duty 

 of keeping the thick-shelled eggs warm 

 and if you approach their habitation 

 while either is so engaged, it will plunge 

 silentlj' beneath the water and swimming 

 out of gunshot lange, will reappear, to 

 watch you with solicitous eye. If you 

 are content to watch proceedings 

 through your field glasses from a dis- 

 tance, you will be interested in the 

 manoeuvres of the bird in her endeavor 

 to keep an eye on the eggs and yet to 

 appear perfectly unconcerned. No 

 matter in how circuitous a course she 

 may swim, she always contrives to have 



