34 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



URINATOR LUMME (Gunn.). 

 7. Red-throated Loon. (11) 



Blackish ; below, white ; dark along the sides and on the vent and erissum ; 

 most of the head and fore neck, bluish-gray ; the throat with a large che.stiiuf 

 patch ; hind neck, sharply streaked with white on a blackish ground ; bill, l)lack. 

 Young have not these marks on the head and neck, but a profusion of small, 

 sharp, circular or oval white spots on the back. Size of the last, or rather less. 



Hab. — Northern part of northern hemisphere, migrating southward in 

 winter nearly across the United States. 



Breeds in high latitude. Eggs, two in number, pale green spotted with 

 brown, deposited in a hollow in the groiind close to the water's edge. 



Audubon found this species breeding at Labrador, and in the 

 Fauna Boreali Americana it is spoken of as " frequenting the shores 

 of Hudson's Bay up to the extremity of Melville Peninsula." 



Large numbers of these birds visit the waters of Southern Ontario 

 in March and April, about the time of the breaking up of the ice, but 

 an adult with the red-throat patch is scarcely ever seen. The one 

 in my collection was procured out on Lake Ontario at midsummer, 

 having for some reason failed to follow the flocks to the far north. 

 In the fall very few are seen, their route to the south being in some 

 other direction. 



All the birds of this class have a most ungainly gait on land, and 

 when surprised away from the water are often taken by the hand 

 before they can get up to fly. On the water or under its surface 

 their motions are exceedingly graceful. 



Dr. Bell found this species on l)oth sides of Hudson's Bay, but 

 only in spring and autumn. 



Mr. Nelson says regarding it : " Throughout Alaska the present 

 bird is by far the most abundant species of Loon. At St. Michael's 

 and the Yukon Delta they arrive with the first open water, from May 

 12th to 20th, and by the end of the month are present in large 

 numbers. Their arrival is at once announced by the hoarse, grating 

 cries which the birds utter as the}' fly from place to place or float 

 upon the water. When the ponds are open in the marshes the Red- 

 throated Loons take possession, and are extremely noisy all through 

 the first part of summer. The harsh ciy arising everywhere from the 

 marshes during the entire twenty-four hours, renders this note one 

 of the most characteristic which greets the ear in spring in those 

 northern wilds. The Russian name, Gegara, derived from the birds' 

 notes, is a very appropriate one. 



