TELL-TALE— SEA EAGLE. 



13 



These birds are quite helpless on the surface of the ground, which 

 they avoid as much as possible. They can not walk as other birds 

 do, or even hardly stand upright. They crawl along instead of 

 walking, supporting themselves by their bills and using their wings 

 to aid a forward movement. Their flight is much better than one 

 would suppose it could be, with their heavy bodies and small 

 wings. To get fairly on the wing, they make a long preliminary 

 movement ; but as soon as they have gained a certain height, they 

 speed quickly forward, although compelled to flap their short wings 

 in rapid succession. Loons are distinguished from all other sea- 

 birds by their loud and sonorous voice. Many ornithologists speak 

 of the voice as harsh and disagreeable ; but the writer can not avoid 

 confessing to a partiality for the loud morning call of the Loon. 

 Its voice, especially at night, resembles a long drawn out "Aaweek ! 

 Aaweek!" So penetrating is it as sometimes to produce an echo 

 in the surrounding rocks or mountains, sounding like the cry of 

 a man in imminent peril of life. 



Loons are shy and cautious, trusting no one. Strange creatures 

 they avoid as much as possible, and do not seem to care much even 

 for their own kind. They are often found single, and, during 

 the breeding season, in pairs, greatly attached to each other. It is 

 seldom that two pairs are seen on the same pond, and more rarely 

 still can even a single pair be seen on a pond occupied by other 

 birds. During their migrations, or when in captivity, they always 

 keep at a distance from other birds, and snap at them if they come 

 near. When brought to bay, Loons fiercely defend themselves, 

 inflicting ugly wounds with their strong, sharp bills. 



They swallow small fish whole ; but, as such as are of the size 

 of the herring cause them trouble, larger ones are torn into small 

 pieces and so devoured. It has been observed that captive Loons 

 never pick up a dead fish ; while freshly caught birds, placed in a 

 large reservoir well stocked with fish, commence immediately to 

 dive, chase, and catch and eat the fish. Fishermen on Lake Erie 

 are in the habit of inclosing a small piece of water, three or four 

 feet deep, with a kind of network reaching above the surface, for 

 the purpose of keeping fish for market. Oftentimes, a Loon, 

 attracted by the multitude of fish, alights in one of these incis- 

 ures, and is easily caught, as it can not again get on the wing, for 

 want of a place from which to make its launch into the air. 



These birds select for their breeding-places quiet fresh-water 

 ponds or lakes, often preferring those situated at a considerable ele- 

 vation above the level of the sea. During the breeding season, 

 their loud, sonorous voices are oftener heard than at other times. 

 The nests are usually found on small islands, but in case there are 

 no such islands, the birds build nests on the shore near the border 

 of the rushes, constructing them of rushes and rank grass, carelessly 

 put together. No attempt is made at concealment, and the female 

 bird, sitting on the nest, can be seen from a great distance. She 

 lays two eggs of an oblong shape, with a coarse-grained shell, and 

 of an oil green color, sprinkled with dark gray and reddish brown 

 specks and dots. Both the male and female sit alternately on the 

 eggs, and mutually feed and take care of their offspring. The 

 eggs are usually laid in the latter part of May, and the young are 

 to be seen by the end of June. If food is lacking in the pond or 

 lake where the nest is located, one of the parents takes care of the 

 young while the other flies off to some point on a fishing excur- 

 sion. As soon as the young birds are fledged, they leave the home 

 of their infancy, and follow their parents to the larger lakes or the 

 sea. 



The flesh of the Loovi is unfit for human food ; it is rancid to the 

 taste, and its odor is disgusting. The natives of Greenland use the 

 skins of these birds for clothing, and the Indians about Hudson's 

 Bay adorn their heads with circlets of Loon feathers. Lewis and 

 Clarke's exploring party saw, at the mouth of the Columbia river, 

 robes made of Loon skins. While they wintered at Fort Clatsop, 

 on that river, they observed great numbers of these birds. 



The female is smaller than the male Loon. The bill is yel- 

 lowish, and only the upper ridge and the top black, or of a black- 



ish horn color; the crown, back, and part of the neck and the 

 whole upper parts are pale brown ; the plumage of a part of the 

 back and scapulars is tipped with pale ash ; the throat, lower side 

 of the neck, and the whole underparts are white, but not so purely 

 white as in the male, as these parts in the female have a dirty yel- 

 lowish tinge. The quill feathers are dark brown. The female 

 has neither the streaked bands on her neck nor the white spots on 

 her body. 



The Tell-tale, Tattler, or Godwit. (Gambelta Melano leuca.') 



Fig. 2. 



This bird is well known to our gunners along the sea-coast and 

 marshes. They stigmatize it with the name of Tell-tale, for its 

 faithful vigilance in alarming the Ducks on the approach of the 

 hunter, with its loud and shrill cry. This cry consists of four notes, 

 uttered in rapid succession, and so loud and shrill as to alarm any 

 Duck within hearing. But gunners, aware of this fact, look out 

 in the first instance, for this bird, and often hush its warning voice 

 forever, before it is aware of their stealthy approach. 



This elegantly formed bird appears on our coasts about the be- 

 ginning of April, breeds in the marshes, and leaves for the South 

 in the middle of November. Not only do these birds build nests 

 in salt-water marshes, but also in fresh-water swamps ; sometimes 

 on the dry ground, and even in an old stump. The nest is simply 

 a hollow, made usually in a tussock of rank grass, inlaid with a 

 few dry leaves of grass, a little moss, and with pine needles or 

 leaves. The eggs, four in number, are proportionally large, pear- 

 shaped, and of an oil green color, sprinkled with brownish gray 

 specks and dots. The female bird hatches the eggs ; but her mate 

 is always at hand and on the watch. The young run about, fol- 

 lowing their parents, as soon as they are out of the shell, and con- 

 ceal themselves, as all their kindred do, on the approach of danger, 

 by lying flat on the ground, or in the grass or weeds. As soon as 

 they are full-fledged, they look out for themselves, but remain with 

 the old birds, flying at will from place to place, making longer and 

 longer excursions, and at length, on some fine evening, setting out 

 for a grand wandering tour. 



In their winter-quarters, Tattlers associate with many other birds, 

 but seldom form large flocks. It seems as if the company of 

 strangers suited them better than that of their own kind. Their 

 manner is pleasing ; their walk elegant, quick, and striding, and 

 their flight easy and rapid. They wade in deep water, and swim 

 if necessary. They are generally seen, either searching for food 

 or standing on the watch, alternately raising and lowering the head, 

 and, on the least approach of danger, uttering a shrill whistle, their 

 warning cry, and then rising on the wing, generally accompanied 

 by all the shore birds in the vicinity. Occasionally they rise to a 

 great height, and their whistle can be distinctly heard, when the 

 birds are beyond the reach of the eye. They become very fat in 

 the fall, and their flesh is in high esteem for the table. 



Nature seems to have intended this bird as a kind of guardian 

 or sentinel for all other shore or aquatic birds. They feed on the 

 shore, or in the bogs or marshes, with a feeling of perfect security, 

 so long as the Tattler is at hand, and is silent ; but the moment his 

 whistle is heard, there is a general commotion, and directly not a 

 bird is to be seen, the disappointed gunner, in his vexation, uttering 

 between his teeth something the reverse of a prayer. 



PLATE XV. 



The Gray op Sea Eagle. (Halzaetus leucocepkaiuz.) 



This formidable Eagle lives in the same countries, on the same 

 fooa, and frequents the same localities as the Bald or White-headed 



