WATER BIRDS. 41 
less common in summer in the more thickly settled parts of the state, al- 
though it probably nests occasionally in every county. Toward the north 
it nests in undiminished numbers and during the migrations is so abundant 
in some places as to be a serious annoyance to the fishermen in 
whose nets it is often entangled and drowned. Mr. W. A. Oldfield of 
Port Sanilac, has sent us specimens of this species and the Horned Grebe 
taken in herring nets at that place; and the late Dr. J. W. Velie of St. Joseph 
told us that it was often caught in the nets there, particularly in the spring. 
The nest is commonly a hollow in the top of a heap of matted water 
plants of various kinds, sometimes on the mainland, more often on small 
islands in inland lakes, most often of all on the top of a muskrat house 
at the edge of a pond or in some large flooded marsh. 
Sve aoa 2 —— 
Fig. 4. Loon. 
From Nuttall’s Ornithology (Chamberlain). Little, Brown & Co. 
The eggs are invariably two, olive-brown more or less spotted with 
darker brown and black. They average 3.52 by 2.27 inches. In the south- 
ern part of the state the eggs are often laid the first week in May, but eggs 
are also found as late as the last week in June. Dr. Dunham writes that 
in Kalkaska county he has taken the eggs as early as May 12. 
The bird feeds entirely on fish, dives at the flash of the gun, and after 
it has been shot at a few times becomes extremely wary and makes long 
trips under water often putting only the bill above the surface in order 
to breath. 
It is said to carry its young on its back during flight from one pond to 
another, or from the nesting pond to the open lake, but this statement 
needs confirmation. Dr. Gibbs states that he has seen the old one carry- 
ing the young on its back when swimming in the lake. 
The call of the Loon is loud but not unmusical; as commonly heard, 
however, at night and often in stormy weather, it has something peculiarly 
weird and uncanny about it. 
