66 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



A LOON'S NEST. 



Many miles north of the summer excursionists last camping ground, 

 there is a beautiful sheet of water called Silver Lake. A dense growth 

 of hemlock, balsam and spruce forms an almost impenetrable barrier to 

 the waters edge, and in the transparent depths every twig is perfectly 

 reflected. From our camp, beside a pile of giant granite boulders, 

 covered deep with moss and lichen, a full view of the lake's expanse 

 could be obtained. 



The birds that interested me most, were a pair of loons that spent 

 the day floating motionlessly on the unruffled surface or else perform- 

 ing wonderful diving and swimming feats. Their wild cry was the first 

 sound heard after getting up in the morning and the last one at night. 

 One bird was always to be seen on the lake, but the other, the female, 

 was absent most of the time. 



I was determined to find their nest, but for several days was un- 

 successful. Many hours of laborious pushing, through the shallow, 

 weedy lagoons or arms of the lake, only brought to light, a Black 

 Duck's nest, a brood of young Hooded Mergansers and a few Black- 

 birds' nests. The day before breaking camp, I paddled completely 

 around the lake and found the entrance of a narrow lagoon that had 

 hitherto escaped my notice. In the shallow water, rushes and peablow- 

 ers were growing luxuriantly and it was hard work pushing the canoe 

 through. Coming out suddenly from behind a bunch of rushes, I came 

 into view of an old muskrat house and sitting on the top was a Loon. 

 It lurched forward into the water, then took a slanting course into the 

 air. The bird seemed very much bewildered at the apparition that had 

 penetrated its domain, and at first seemed undecided what to do. It 

 circled once around the nest, then took an erratic course towards the 

 open water of the lagoon, where I could see its head and neck above 

 the water and hear its wild reproachful cries. 



There was a slight depression on top of the pile of mud and rushes 

 and in it the two brown spotted, drab eggs were lying with no pro- 

 tection from the hot June sun. It was in a difficult position to photo- 

 graph the eggs, as the mud at the bottom of the lagoon was too deep 

 to allow my getting out of the canoe. Finally I managed to steady the 

 canoe with a paddle stuck into the mud and by placing two legs of the 

 tripod in the canoe and one against the muskrat house I succeeded in 

 focusing the camera. Unfortunately my position only allowed my 

 getting a portion of the nest and when I developed the plate I found 

 that the eggs were shown at rather a disadvantage. The legs of the 

 tripod must have slipped after I put in the plate holder. 



As I paddled out of the lagoon, the Loon kept about a hundred yards 

 ahead of me, looking back uneasily all the while. When I reached the 

 lake, she dived and swam swiftly towards the nest. 



J. A. Munro, Toronto. 



