TOUCHES OF NATURE 69 



form a sharp point to its tapering neck. Its wings 

 are far in front and its legs equally far in the rear, 

 and its course through the crystal depths is like the 

 speed of an arrow. In the northern lakes it has 

 been taken forty feet under water upon hooks baited 

 for the great lake trout. I had never seen one till 

 last fall, when one appeared on the river in front of 

 my house. I knew instantly it was the loon. Who 

 could not tell a loon a half mile or more away, 

 though he had never seen one before 1 The river 

 was like glass, and every movement of the bird as 

 it sported about broke the surface into ripples, that 

 revealed it far and wide. Presently a boat shot out 

 from shore, and went ripping up the surface toward 

 the loon. The creature at once seemed to divine 

 the intentions of the boatman, and sidled off 

 obliquely, keeping a sharp lookout as if to make 

 sure it was pursued. A steamer came down and 

 passed between them, and when the way was again 

 clear the loon was still swimming on the surface. 

 Presently it disappeared under the water, and the 

 boatman pulled sharp and hard. In a few moments 

 the bird reappeared some rods farther on, as if to 

 make an observation. Seeing it was being pursued, 

 and no mistake, it dived quickly, and, when it came 

 up again, had gone many times as far as the boat 

 had in the same space of time. Then it dived again 

 and distanced its pursuer so easily that he gave over 

 the chase and rested upon his oars. But the bird 

 made a final plunge, and, when it emerged upon the 

 surface again, it was over a mile away. Its course 



