THE LOONS 



(Family urinatoridce) 



Loon 



(Urinator imber) 



Called also: GREAT NORTHERN DIVER; COMMON LOON; 



LOOM 



Length — 31 to 36 inches. 



Male and Female — In summer: Upper parts glossy black, showing 

 iridescent violet and green tints. Back and wings spotted 

 and barred with white ; white spaces on the neck marking off 

 black bands, and sides of breast streaked with white. Breast 

 and underneath white. Bill stout, straight, sharply pointed, 

 and yellowish green. Legs, which are placed at rear of body, 

 are short, buried and feathered to heel joint. Tail short, 

 but well formed. Feet black and webbed. In -winter and 

 immature specimens: Upper parts blackish and feathers 

 margined with grayish, not spotted with white. Under- 

 neath white; throat sometimes has grayish wash. 



Range — Northern part of northern hemisphere. In North 

 America breeds from the Northern United States to Arctic 

 Circle, and winters from the southern limit of its breeding 

 range to the Gulf of Mexico. 



Season — A wandering winter resident. Most common in the mi- 

 grations from September to May. 



This largest and handsomest of the diving birds, as it is the 

 most disagreeably voiced, comes down to our latitude in winter, 

 when its favorite inland lakes at the north begin to freeze 

 over and the fish to fail, and wanders about far from the haunts 

 of men along the seacoast or by the fresh waterways. Cau- 

 tious, shy, fond of solitude, it shifts about from place to place 

 discouraging our acquaintance. By the time it reaches the United 

 States — for the majority nest farther north — it has exchanged its 

 rich, velvety black and white wedding garment for a more dingy 

 suit, in which the immature specimens are also dressed. With 



14 



