JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



23 



one turn each time bring her close by 

 the uest, and more than once I have 

 discovered her secret by marking the 

 point that she so frequently approached 

 and yet seemed to avoid. However, if 

 you draw near enough to the nest so 

 that the bird knows you have found it, 

 the conditions change. She is no long- 

 er wary, but is bold and almost aggres- 

 sive ; she swims up within a few rods of 

 you and dives and splashes as if to dis- 

 tract your attention. Failing in this, 

 she raises her head and utters a long 

 quavering call which is quickly answer- 

 ed by the mate, perhaps more than a 

 mile away. She swims to meet him and 

 together, from a safe distance, they 

 stoically watch further developments. 



A peculiarity in the habits of the Loon 

 that I have i-emarked, is that sometimes 

 in waters least visited by human beings, 

 they will conceal their nests with greater 

 care than under reverse conditions. 

 For instance, one season I kncAv of a 

 nest built within gunshot of a bridge 

 over which was. almost constant travel, 

 and from which the sitting bird could be 

 easily watched. On the other hand, 

 while fishing one July day on a little 

 pond in Sweden, Oxford County, so 

 little frequented that we had been ob- 

 liged to haul our own boat to it or go 

 without, I found, on a small island, 

 back from the shore a good ten feet 

 among the button bushes, a Loon's uest 

 containing two eggs. A curious little 

 well beaten path led up to the tussock, 

 which the birds had constructed of 

 leaves, twigs and fine drift stuff. 



The young birds take to the water as 

 soon as they are hatched and it is a 

 pretty sight to see the little, down- 

 covered, sooty things sporting with the 

 parent birds and learning from them the 



arts for which the species is noted. At 

 such times, if the mother bird sees 

 cause for greater speed than can be 

 attained by the unfledged offspring, she 

 perches them on her back and swims 

 away at almost incredible speed. 



Who hasn't tried to capture a young 

 Loon ! I well remember one of my 

 first adventures of this sort. A friend 

 and myself had happened upon the 

 family near the twilight hour, and after 

 pursuing them for some time, had nearly 

 given up, defeated, for whenever we 

 were about to overtake one he would 

 plunge beneath the surface, and it was 

 too dark to see him when he was under 

 water. "That last one went under right 

 here," said my friend, running his hand 

 into the water to emphasize his remark. 

 To his surprise and mine, his hand 

 touched the little fellow that had stopped 

 just under the surface, and profiting by 

 this experience we quickly cai)tured its 

 companion, but I am happy to add that 

 we left them in the care of the parent 

 birds when we started homeward. 



If perchance, you take a young Loon 

 away with you the old birds will often 

 follow your boat for miles, uttering the 

 most pitiful cries, and lay siege to the 

 vicinity of your landing-place until you 

 will gladly return to them your uninter- 

 esting pet in exchange for quiet. A few 

 years ago Mrs. Mead and I prevailed 

 upon some young neighbors to allow us 

 to return a young Loon they had brought 

 home. We could hear the lamentations 

 of the parents from two miles down the 

 lake, and laid our course for that local- 

 ity. We were unable to get as near the 

 old birds as we wished. Evidently they 

 had learned a sad lesson that day, so at 

 last we put the fledgling overboard near 

 the locality from which it was taken, 



