LOONS. 59 



Washington, common W. V., Sept. to Apl. 25. Long Island, abundant T. 

 v., common W. V., Sept. to June. Sing Sing, common T. V., Mch. and Oct. 

 Cambridge, not common T. V., Apl. to early May ; Sept. to Nov. 



Nest^ a slight depression in the ground within a few feet of the water. 

 Eggs^ two, grayish olive-brown, thinly spotted with blackish, 3-50 x 2-20. 



This wild inhabitant of our northern lakes and ponds possesses all 

 the characteristic traits of the Divers. Its remarkable notes are thus 

 described by Mr. J. H. Langille : 



" Beginning on the fifth note of the scale, the voice slides through 

 the eighth to the third of the scale above in loud, clear, sonorous tones, 

 which on a dismal evening before a thunderstorm, the lightning already 

 playing along the inky sky, are anything but musical. He has also 

 another rather soft and pleasing utterance, sounding like wTio-who- 

 ivho-wJio, the syllables being so rapidly pronounced as to sound almost 

 like a shake of the voice — a sort of weird laughter." 



Loons may be seen migrating by day singly or in small companies, 

 generally at a considerable height. Their flight is strong, rapid, and 

 direct. 



9. Urinator arcticus (Linn.). Black-throated Loon. Ad. in, 



summer. — Throat, foreneck, back, wings, and tail black, with purplish and 

 bluish reflections ; a band of white streaks on the throat ; sides of the neck, 

 back, and wings streaked, barred, or spotted with white ; top of head and 

 nape gray ; breast and belly wliite ; a blackish band at the base of the under 

 tail-coverts. Ad. in winter and Im. — Similar in color to U. imher., not spotted 

 above with white. L., 27-00 ; W., 11-00 : Tar., 2-GO ; B., 2-00. 



Eemarhs. — Immature and winter birds may be distinguished from the cor- 

 responding stage of imber by their small size ; from lumme by grayish mar- 

 gins instead of white spots, bars, or margins on the upper parts. 



Range. — Breeds in the northern parts of the northern hemisphere; in 

 North America migrates southward in winter to the northern United States, 

 casually to Ohio and Long Island. 



Long Island, A. V., one record. 



Nest^ a slight depression in the ground within a few feet of the water. 

 Egg.s^ two, grayish olive-brown, spotted or scrawled with blackish, 3-20 x 2-10. 



This species is a very rare winter visitant to the northern border 

 of the L'nited States. The most southern record of its occurrence is 

 Long Island (Duicher, Auk, x, 1898, p. 265). 



11. Urinator lumme {Gunn). Eed-throated Loon. Ad. in sum- 

 mer. — Back, wings, and tail fuscous, more or less spotted with white ; head 

 and neck ashy gray ; foreneck chestnut ; back of the neck black, streaked with 

 white; breast and belly white; longer under tail-coverts and band at the base 

 of shorter ones fuscous. Ad. in winter and Im. — Similar to U. imber, but 

 back spotted with white. L., 25-00; W., 11-00; Tar., 2-GO; B., 2-00. 



Range. — Found throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere, 



