THE LOON 



By ARTHUR H. NORTON 



THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES 

 Educational Leaflet No. 78 



One's introduction to the Loon is likely to be through the medium 

 of its voice, and it may seem to be the incarnation of the spirit of the 

 wilderness-waters, for its abiding-places are in the solitude of lakes 

 rimmed with dark forests and distant blue hills, or on the broad bosom 

 of the tossing sea. Like the spirits of old legends, it seems never to 

 sleep, but to be ranging these realms both day and 

 ni.^ht, sending abroad wild, loud notes at all hours. Spirit of 



Better acquaintance with the Loon will show it to 



be a large, beautifully plumaged bird, remarkable for its masterly accom- 

 plishments ; and although its notes often have a sad, or even a despairing 

 sound, it is a happy, self-reliant creature, demanding our admiration 

 rather than our pity. 



The Loon spends its life afloat, and no more powerful swimmer can 

 be found in the bird-world. Its heavy, flattened body, 

 half-submerged when swimming, affords little lever- 

 age to the driving blast, while the great webbed feet, 

 operated by powerful muscles, drive it onward against wind and wave. 

 Matchless swimmer though it is, it is an even more wonderful diver, for 

 it must chase and capture fishes in their own element. If pursued by 

 man, or if attacked by an eagle, it instantly takes refuge beneath the sur- 

 face, speeding away to a safe distance, now and then merely thrusting 

 its head above the surface to catch breath, and again diving and speeding 

 onward to a place of safety. 



Many a Loon has escaped death by ducking at the flash of a gun, 

 ere the shot could reach him. Though quick in diving, head foremost, 

 it has the remarkable ability to sink its entire body beneath the surface 

 without visible effort. This faculty belongs to several other diving-birds. 



Trusting extensively in its powers of swimming over and under 

 water to escape its enemies, and to procure its food, it nevertheless is a 

 strong flier, although progressing with apparently 

 labored movements and in calm weather finding great 

 difficulty in rising from the water. It must rise 

 against the wind, so that the pressure of the breeze against its narrow 

 pinions may assist in raising its weight from the surface. Once on 

 the wing it may perform long journeys, as it does on its migrations, 

 which take it many miles overland to and from the lake where it makes 

 its home. On these flights it sometimes sends forth a defiant note, 



