BIRDS OF NEW YORK lOl 



the third week in May. They begin to return from the north about the 

 middle of September, and are quite common during October, most of them 

 passing southward by the last of November, many going as far southward 

 as the Gulf of Mexico. 



Haunts and habits. The Common loon is rarely seen on ponds of less than 

 several acres extent and is never common except on the larger rivers and 

 lakes where it keeps to the open water and escapes from its pursuers b}^ 

 diving and swimming long distances under water. In this manner it can 

 elude the swiftest oarsman, but when cornered in shallow water, it takes 

 wing and makes a long flight before alighting. Like grebes, it often sinks 

 as if a stone were fastened to it and seems to disappear completely, probably 

 rising with only its bill out of water and so remaining until its pursuers 

 have given up the chase. It is asserted by the best authorities that this 

 bird can evade a gunshot by diving at the flash, and I have no doubt that 

 this is true when black powder is used, but when a modem smokeless rifle 

 is discharged at a loon, he is utterly unable to dodge the shot, even when 

 intently eyeing the gunner all the time. When on land the loon is a very 

 awkward fellow, as his name would indicate, it being derived from the old 

 English loom, or lumme, meaning a clumsy fellow or lummox, and probably 

 allied to the word lame. He stands with his body erect and his tarsi usually 

 resting on the ground. Perhaps it would be more correct to sa}- he sits 

 • up like a startled woodchuck. He can not walk, but progresses by tumbling 

 forward and flopping his wings and pushing his feet in a most ungainly 

 manner. The scream of the loon, uttered at evening, or on the approach 

 of a storm, has to my ear, an unearthly and mournful tone resembling 

 somewhat the distant howl of a wolf. It is a penetrating note, loud and 

 weird, delivered with a prolonged rising inflection, dropping at the end, 

 resembling the syllables a °°'^ oo, or as is often written o' -o-ooh. Its laughter, 

 however, is of a more pleasing quality, like the syllables hoo, hd^, hd^, hod, 

 lido, uttered in a peculiarly vibrating tremulo. 



Food. The food of the loon consists almost entirely of fish, which 

 it catches by swimming after them beneath the surface of the water. 



