Loons. 



Order, Pygopodes. 

 Family, Podicipidae. 



7. COMMON LOON (GREAT NORTHERN DIVER). Gavia imber. 

 Thirty-two inches long. A diver in deep water. Head and neck black 

 streaked with white. Black above, barred and streaked with white 

 beneath. Tail feathers short. Their cry resembles human laughter. 



A great old diver is the laughing loon. Whether silly peo- 

 ple are loony or luny depends upon whether they possess the 

 characteristics of the loon or have been moon-struck. Just why 

 anyone should charge the loon with a lack of wisdom is hard to 

 guess for they are about as wise as any bird that swims. Unlike 

 the grebes, they sail to the deep water where they go after big 

 game. They are poor land birds and are almost as helpless as a 

 "fish out of water" but once in the center of the lake, they are 

 the perfection of ease, swimming being easier to them than fly- 

 ing. 



Museums are seldom without a "stuffed" loon and most of 

 the birds that we see in collections are literally "stuffed" but 

 rarely mounted. Water birds seem to be favorites with cheap 

 taxidermists who seemingly will not be satisfied until they can 

 row about as "the only loons upon the lake." 



