A First Glance at the Birds, 



one of the lowest of our sea birds, 

 which, with two smaller cousins, spends 

 the winter along our shores, and, with 

 the possible exception of the penguins 

 of the Antarctic, is one of the most ac- 

 complished divers in the world. Hun- 

 ters are in the habit of saying that it 

 dives upon seeing the flash of a gun and 

 thus escapes the shot. It is distin- 

 guished among other things by the sin- 

 gular arrangement of its feet for swim- 

 ming. Instead of a web-foot, each toe 

 has a loose flap or lobe, with a slight 

 webbing at the base of the toes, by 

 means of which the bird gets an ample 

 purchase upon the water in swimming. 

 The nearest relatives of the grebes 

 are the loons, two species of which in- 

 habit the waters of our bay during the 

 winter months. Their necks are larger 

 and the whole build of the bird is more 

 massive, but they are wonderful swim- 

 mers and divers. Their legs are placed 

 so far to the rear that loons are helpless 

 creatures upon the land, barely able to 



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