A LABRADOR SPRING 



That loons are able to progress faster under 

 water than on the surface I have concluded 

 from such observations as the following: ' 

 " Thus on one occasion I was watching a loon 

 swimming about, dipping his head under 

 water from time to time on the lookout for 

 food. The cry of another loon was heard at 

 a distance and my friend immediately dove 

 in the direction of the other, and, appearing 

 on the surface for a moment, dove again and 

 again until he reached his companion. At 

 another time on the Maine coast while watching 

 a flock of young Red-breasted Mergansers 

 swimming off the shore, I noticed a movement 

 as of a large fish on the water outside. The 

 mergansers at once flapped in alarm along the 

 surface of the water towards the shore where 

 I was hidden, and I soon saw that a loon was 

 chasing them, following them under water." 

 Theoretically a loon should be able to go faster 

 under water than on the surface, for on the 

 surface the bird is retarded by the waves in 

 front and the eddies behind, and the faster it 

 goes the more it is retarded by these factors. 

 The subject of the resistance of submerged 



1 Birds of Essex County, 1905, p. 80. 

 202 



