GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 29 



form is well adapted ; and likewise the body when expanded will be 

 rendered more buoyant, and fit for the purpose of swimming upon the 

 surface of the water.* 



Genus XCI. COLYMBUS. DIVEK. 



Species. C. OLACIALIS. 



GREAT NORTHERN DIVER, or LOON. 



[Plate LXXIV. Fig. 3.] 



• 

 Colymbus glacialis, Linn. Syst. ed. 12, torn, i., p. 221, 5. C. immer, Id. p. 222, No. 6. 

 —Ind. Orn. p. 799, 1. 0. immer, Id. p. 800, 2.—Le grand Plongeon, Briss. vi., p. 

 105, pi. 10, fig. 1. Le grand Plongeon tacheU, Id. p. 120, pi. 11, fig. 2.— ie grand 

 Plongeon, Bupf. Ois. nil., p. 251. L'Imbrim, ou grand Plongeon de la mer du 

 nord. Id. p. 258, tab. 22. PL Enl. 952.— Northern Diver, Lath. Gen. Syn.m., p. 

 337. Imber Diver, Id. p. 340.— Penn. Brit. Zool. No. 237, 238. Arct.Zool. No. 

 439, 440. — Bewick, ii., p. 168, 170.— Montagu, Orn. Die. Sup. App. — Low, 

 Fauna Oreadensis, p. 108, 110. — Plongeon Imbrim, Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 910. 



This bird in Pennsylvania is migratory. In the autumn it makes its 

 appearance with the various feathered tribes that frequent our waters ; 

 and when the streams are obstructed with ice, it departs for the 

 Southern States. f In the months of March and April it is again seen; 

 and after lingering awhile, it leaves us for the purpose of breeding. 

 The Loons are found along the coast as well as in the interior ; but in 

 the summer they retire to the fresh-water lakes and ponds. We have 

 never heard that they breed in Pennsylvania ; but it is said they do in 

 Missibisci Pond, near Boston, Massachusetts. The female lays two 

 large brownish eggs. They are commonly seen in pairs,' and procure 

 their food, which is fish, in the deepest water of our rivers, diving after 

 it, and continuing under for a length of time. Being a wary bird, it is 

 seldom they are killed, eluding their pursuers by their astonishing 

 faculty of diving. They seem averse to flying, and are but seldom 

 seen on the wing. They are never eaten. 



The Loon is restless before a storm ; and an experienced master of a 

 coasting vessel informed me, that he always knew when a tempest was 

 approaching by the cry of this bird, which is very shrill, and may be 

 heard at the distance of a mile or more. The correctness of this obser- 

 vation I have myself since experienced, in a winter voyage on the 

 southern coasts of the United States. 



* From Mr. Ord's supplementary Volume. 



f The Loon is said to winter in the Chesapeake Bay. 



