304 THE LOON. 



adapts him, he seems well aware; for he is in no hurry to 

 fly as one approaches him on the water. Excepting the 

 Grebe, no bird of our waters will allow one to come so near 

 to him. Plunging out of sight in an instant, if one presses 

 him too closely, and literally flying under the water, he will 

 presently come up and shake the water out of his eyes 

 many rods distant, swimming so deeply that his back is 

 nearly under water; and, before one can get within gun- 

 shot, he plunges out of sight again. If he undertakes to 

 rise out of the water, it seems to be with some difficulty. 

 Striking the air vigorously with his powerful wings, and 

 patting the water with his feet, he appears half-running 

 and half-flying, for several rods, before mounting fully into 

 the air, and if the wind be blowing he rises against it, thus 

 " eking out the resisting power of his small wings;" but 

 once elevated, he moves with immense momentum and 

 velocity, with outstretched neck, and feet extended back- 

 ward, after the manner of a huge Duck. To make up for 

 the small area of his wing-surface, he beats the air with a 

 rapidity that cannot be counted; and like other swimming 

 birds with very small wings for their size, and like all diving 

 birds whose wings are always reduced to a minimum, he 

 can make no sudden turns, nor perform any aerial evolu- 

 tions, nor alight suddenly and gracefully, but pitches into 

 the water with a splash and foam. Nor does he generally 

 need any of these facilities on wing. He may choose broad 

 rivers, immense lakes, or even the ocean for his highway, 

 and so have no obstructions in his course. Moreover, like 

 other mortals, he cannot expect to have every advantage. 

 If in structure and function he is the very ideal of dex- 

 terity in the water, he cannot expect to vie with the Swift in 

 the regions of the air. 



The name Loon, or Loom, is said to be of Lapland ori- 



