68 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS 



Nesting. Mr. W. Sprague Brooks has sent me the following notes 

 on a nest which he found at Demarcation Point, Arctic Alaska, on 

 July 4, 1914: 



The nest was on the edge of a shallow slough on the tundra about 200 yards 

 from the shore of the Arctic Ocean. This slough was about 3 acres in area, 

 but another nest was found in one of about half an acre. Enough room to take 

 wing seems to be all that is required. The nest itself was in the aquatic vegeta- 

 tion along the edge and was merely a soaking wet mass of roots, stems, and the 

 accompanying mud, of this same plant torn from the bottom. In the three 

 nests of this species that I found the bird on being disturbed did not show 

 any particular concern, merely swimming off to the other side of the slough 

 and keeping an eye on my activities. 



Macfarlane (1908) refers to a nest of this species found near 

 Stuart's Lake, British Columbia, on May 29, 1889, and two nests 

 found early in June, 1890, north of Cumberland House, showing that 

 the Pacific loon breeds far inland. In his notes on the birds of the 

 lower Mackenzie and Anderson Rivers, Macfarlane (1891) says: 



This is the most abundant of all the divers in the region under investigation. 

 Nests were discovered in the wooded country, in the Barren Grounds, and on 

 the shores and islands of the Arctic coast. In situation and composition they 

 resemble those of U. imber. In all about 165 nests, most of which contained 

 two eggs, were secured in course of the five seasons, from 1862 to 1866, in- 

 clusive. 



Eggs. The eggs of the Pacific loon are much like other loon's 

 eggs, but they average smaller than those of the black-throated loon 

 and larger than those of the red-throated loon. In shape they are 

 "elliptical ovate" or "cylindrical ovate," usually the former and 

 very rarely nearly "ovate." The ground color is "Prouts' brown," 

 "Saccardo's umber," "cinnamon brown," "dark olive buff," or "Isa- 

 bella color," very rarely "pale olive buff." The egg is usually sparsely 

 covered with small spots, but often there are a few scattering larger 

 spots, of the darkest shades of brown or nearly black; some eggs show 

 underlying spots or pale shades of lavender or drab. The measure- 

 ments of 41 eggs, in the United States National Museum, average 

 75.5 by 47 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 

 87 by 45, 80 by 51, 68.5 by 46, and 70.5 by 44 millimeters. 



Young. Nelson (1887) gives the following account of the be- 

 havior and food of the young: 



When the young can follow their parents all pass to the coast, and during 

 calm, pleasant weather, the last of July and in August, they are very common 

 in all the shallow bays along shore. On one occasion downy young, not over 

 one-fourth grown, were found on August 30. They were in a pond over 2 miles 

 from any place where fish could be found, so that the parents must have flown 

 4 miles at least for each fish taken to them. One of the young birds had a half 

 digested tomcod about 6 inches long in its gullet, and one of the parents was 

 seen coming in from the seacoast 5 or 6 miles away with a fish of the same size 

 crosswise in its beak. 



