IN THE HAUNTS OF THE LOON 



that circle in stately rings above the trees at 

 the edge of the lake. The flight of the blue- 

 bill, ringbill, teal, or merganser ducks is un- 

 noticed by the loon, for a more unsociable 

 bird never existed. Sometimes, though, a 

 pair of loons will lure ducks away from the 

 decoys that a hunter has thrown out, thereby 

 earning a decided opinion of the sportsman 

 as to loons. 



For hours, then, you can watch them drift- 

 ing here and there, apparently serenely un- 

 conscious of the world beyond the edge of 

 the lake. But if you send a thirty-two-calibre 

 rifle bullet out over the water at the head of 

 the nearest bird, he will dive down at the 

 report like a flash, and your missile will waste 

 its force on the water, where an instant be- 

 fore he was swimming. During the time 

 when he is undisturbed he will dive occasion- 

 ally, and sometimes he stretches his broad 

 wings in cumbrous flight down the middle of 

 the lake to another refuge. There he will 

 swim about until the lack of any disturbing 

 element finally arouses his suspicions, when 

 he will return to his former retreat to float 

 and dive, and dream the hours away. 

 53 



