10 WATER-BIRDS IN THEIR HOMES. 



striped collars at the throat ; a much milder-looking, more do- 

 mestic bird on her little island than when she is sailing around 

 in the big lake, hallooing to wake echoes. 



She is very fond of her little loon chicks, and has more 

 worries than most land-birds. We hardly realize the number 

 of their enemies. Hawks are always ready to devour hem 

 (and whatever may be said in favor of hawks, they leave many 

 feathers along the pond sides where they have picked and 

 eaten water-fowl). The old herring gulls would not hesitate 

 to stoop and take one, for fat young loon is a delicious morsel 

 to them. Then the big pickerel in the lakes often catch young 

 birds, much oftener than you imagine. The great bull-frogs of 

 the Northern ponds also gobble up little ducks. (Do not foe 

 surprised ; for if you ever saw one of those great frogs, you 

 would readily believe the statement, and I know it to be true.) 

 The great mud-turtles that root about in the ooze of the pond 

 bottoms, huge fellows, that will walk off with a man standing 

 on their back, eat many water-fowl ; and there are mink and 

 otter and men as occasional dangers, so that the poor Mother 

 Loon has a constant worry for a few weeks. Still, every other 

 water-bird has just the same, and most of them have more 

 children to look after. 



Mother Loon has a great advantage over other birds, in her 

 size and courage. She is afraid of nothing, can swim better 

 under water than upon the surface, and is armed with a terri- 

 ble bill that can be driven entirely through the body of the 

 largest fish in the lake. 



She eats nothing but fish, and is very expert at catching 

 them. As it often is not convenient to swallow a fish tail fore- 

 most on account of its fins and spines, she is clever in tossing 

 them in air and catching them head first, so that they slide 

 down her throat as smoothly as if they were sardines. 



