78 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS 



Behavior. The flight of this loon is swift, strong and exceedingly 

 direct; it is capable of long sustained flight and it generally flies in 

 a straight line at a great height. The neck is outstretched to its 

 fullest extent, the bill points straight forward and the large feet are 

 extended backward, held close together, to serve as a rudder in place 

 of its useless little tail. A long, slender figure, pointed at both ends, 

 with small wings vibrating rapidly, can generally be recognized as 

 a loon at even a long distance, but the various species can not be 

 distinguished with certainty even at a short range except in full 

 nuptial plumage ; I know of no field mark by which the young birds 

 may be recognized. The red-throated loon rises more easily from 

 the water than the other species and gets under way more quickly; 

 when alighting on the water it drops in heavily, striking at an angle, 

 making a great splash and plowing up a furrow as it slides along 

 the surface. It swims rapidly on the surface or with its body sub- 

 merged. In diving it can sink quietly out of sight or dive like a 

 flash, causing scarcely a ripple; but when not hurried or when in- 

 tending to make a deep dive the neck is arched and the body thrown 

 forward in a downward plunge with the wings closely pressed to 

 the sides. Under water it makes astonishing speed, faster than a 

 man can run along the shore, and it is useless to pursue one in a 

 boat or a canoe ; it can even outdistance an ordinary power boat. I 

 believe that it ordinarily swims under water by using its feet alone, 

 working them alternately; but when an extra burst of speed is de- 

 sired the wings are also brought into play and the result is mar- 

 velous. Dr. George Suckley (1860) noted this habit, as follows: 



Another individual which I obtained at New Dungeness, Straits of Fuca, I 

 had an excellent opportunity of examining at a time it was attempting to 

 escape from a shallow lagoon to the open water of the straits by swimming 

 through the narrow outlet. Although slightly wounded, it moved so rapidly 

 that I was obliged to run as fast as I could to keep up with it. At the same 

 time, as the water was clear and shallow, I was able to watch its motions dis- 

 tinctly. It had the head and neck extended nearly perfectly straight, the bill 

 acting as a "cut water," and, in addition to the ordinary propulsion by the feet, 

 used the wings exactly as if flying. Indeed, the bird was flying through water 

 instead of air. 



The ordinary call note of the red-throated loon, which is a very 

 noisy bird on its breeding grounds, is a goose-like, honking cry, 

 which Nelson (1887) has described very well as follows: 



The harsh gr-r-ga gr-r, gr-r-ga, ga, gr-r, rising everywhere from the marshes 

 during the entire 24 hours, renders this note one of the most characteristic that 

 greets the ear in spring in these northern wilds. The red-throated loon is one 

 of the very few birds which raised its voice in the quiet of the short Arctic 

 night. In spring, with cranes, they foretell an approaching storm by the in- 

 creased repetition and vehemence of their cries. 



