EXPEDITION TO POINT BAWIOW, ALASKA. 127 



737. COLYMBUS ADAMSI Gray. 



C.KKAT WHITE-BILLED LI ION ('I'k'ii'liii). 



Tin- Great Loon, which is curiously enough called by the s;nm: Kskimo name as the, (lolden 

 Plover, is a regular summer visitor and probably breeds, though the eggs were never found. 



They were not often noticed in the sc;iso;i of 1SS2, but were quite abundant in 1883. They arc 

 first to be seen about the end of May, or early in June, at the "lead" of opeu water and Hying 

 inland to their breeding grounds. As the sea opens along the shore and open holes are found in 

 the lagoons they are to be looked for in such places, gradually going out to sea as the sea>on 

 advances. 



They are generally to be seen alone or in pairs, seldom more than three or four together, and 

 are silent birds compared with C. lorquatus. I only heard this bird " laugh " ouco during the whole 

 of my stay. The " laugh " appeared to bo harsher than that of torquatitx. 



Fully fledged young were seen August 7, 1883. The breeding-grounds are probably around 

 the swamps and lakes some distance inland. 



C. torqiidtus, although reported by Mr. Nelson from the shores of the Arctic, was not observed 

 at Point Harrow during our stay there. 



739. COLYMBUS PACIFICUS Lawr. 



PACIFIC DIVER (Ku'ksatt). 



All the black-throated loous we obtained proved upon examination to be this species, so 

 that this is probably the only one that occurs. 



The natives make no distinction between this and the next species, and they are both very 

 common birds. Their peculiar harsh cry, "kok, kok, kok," from which they get their name, "Kak- 

 san,'' is to be heard all summer, and the, birds were seen nearly every day, flying backwards and 

 forwards and inland from the sea. 



During the breeding season these smaller loons have a habit of getting oft' alone in some small 

 pond and howling like a fiend for upwards of half an hour at a time. It is a most blood-curdling, 

 weird, and uncanny sort of a scream, and the amount of noise they make is something wonderful. 

 They can be heard for miles. 



They arrive early in June, and before the ponds are open are generally flying eastward as if 

 they had come up along the open water at sea and were striking across to the mouths of the rivers 

 at the east. As the ponds open they make themselves at home there, and evidently breed in 

 abundance, though we were unable to find the nest. One of their breeding grounds was evidently 

 a swampy lagoon some five or six miles inland, but the nests were inaccessible. 



After the breeding season they are frequently to bo seen in the open pools along the shore, 

 especially when the lagoons have broken out. They are always very wild and difficult to secure. 

 They are plenty through August and the greater part of September along the shore, and occa- 

 sional stragglers remain round open holes well into October. Some appeared to be feeding young 

 as late as the middle of .September, 1882, as they were seen going inland from the sea carrying 

 small u'sh. 



740. COLYMBUS SBPTENTRIONALIS Linn. 



KED-THROATED DIVER 



This species is quite as common as the, foregoing, and appears to have precisely the samo 

 habits. 



The only identified loons' eggs we obtained were of this species, and were, brought in with the 

 parent bird from a stream some miles east of the point. The natives also brought in from time to 

 time, both seasons a number of eggs of the Kakauit, and these all appeared to be this species. 



