COLYMBIDyE: LOONS. 



789 



333. 



840. 



61. Family COL YMBID^: Loons. 



_ _ Bill stout, straight, corn- 



_s_ _ _ pressed, tapering, acute, parag- 



^J^^^m=^ nathous, entirely horny. Nos- 



/^-^"Zss^^C^ ' — I — i ^'^^^^ naiTowly linear, tlieir upper 



P'%_™.^^^^?'^ "^^^^Kj. '^'^ "■rtlllllJlliiiwBSBSis "" * posterior, Ijuried, feathered on to 



E=f*^ ^^3^ Bi ^,{^^ ^^^^^^^^^'5^!^*j^^ ~ posterior semilateral and liaviug 



"~^^^^^*'^^^^^*'-^^"=^ ,^,-i-^>— ~.™-=:?=- -^ M'itli long, broad, central projec- 



'' ~^ ' tion backward, and sliorter lat- 



FiG. 520. - Loons. (From Michelet.) pj..Q processes. Ca-ca present. 



Accessory semitendinosus absent. Back spotted. Head of young not striped. Loons are 

 large lieavy birds witli broad flattened body and rather long sinuous neck, abundant on tlie 

 coasts and large inland waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Tlrey are noted for tlreir powers 

 of diving, being able to evade tire shot from a gun by disappearing at the flash, and to .swim 

 many fathoms under water. Tliey are migratory, breeding in high latitudes, being generally 

 dispersed further soutli in winter. They are pr»eocial, and lay two or three dark-colored 

 spotted eggs in a rude nest tif rushes l>y tli(.^ water's edge. Tlie voice is extremely loud, harsli, 

 and resonant. The sexes are alike, the 9 smaller than the <J ; the young different. There 

 is but one genus, with only three well-determined species. 

 COLYM'BUS. (Gr. koXvu^os, kolumbos. a diver.) LooNS. Character as above. 



Analysis of Species and Varieties {Adults). 



Head and neck black, with green, blue, and purple reflection, and patclies of white streaks. 



Bill mostly or wholly black, the culmen, commissure, and gonys all gently curved; feathers falling 



short of middle of nostrils ; culmen 3. 00 or less ; gape 4.00 or more ; height of bill at nostrils usually 



under 1.00, Gloss of head and neck mostly green ; white spots of back nearly square . . lorquatus 840 



Bill mostly yellow ; culmen nearly straight ; commissure straight; gonys straight ; feathers reaching 



middle of nostrils ; culmen .about 3.7.5; gape about 5.00; height of bill at nostrils usually over 1.00. 



Gloss of head and neck mostly blue; white spots of back longer than broad adamsi 841 



Top of head bluish-ash, front of neck blue-black; neck with white stripes. 



Larger: wing about 12.00; bill about 2. BO, stout, with convex culmen arcficus 842 



Smaller: wing .about 11,00; bill about 2.00, slender, with straight culmen pacificus 843 



Throat and sides of head bluish-ash; front of neck with red patch septentrionalis 844 



C. torqua'tus. (Lat. torr7?OT?!t.s, collared. Figs. 529, .5.30.) Common Loon. Great North- 

 ern Diver. Adult : Bill black, the tip and cutting edges sometimes yellowish. Feet black. 

 Iris red. Head and necdc deep glossy greenish-black, with lustrous purplish reflections on the 



