A LABRADOR SPRING 
That loons are able to progress faster under 
water than on the surface I have concluded 
from such observations as the following:’ 
‘“Thus on one occasion I was watching a loon 
swimming about, dipping his head under 
water from time to time on the lookout for 
food. The cry of another loon was heard at 
a distance and my friend immediately dove 
in the direction of the other, and, appearing 
on the surface for a moment, dove again and 
again until he reached his companion. At 
another time on the Maine coast while watching 
a flock of young Red-breasted Mergansers 
swimming off the shore, I noticed a movement 
as of a large fish on the water outside. The 
mergansers at once flapped in alarm along the 
surface of the water towards the shore where 
I was hidden, and I soon saw that a loon was 
chasing them, following them under water.” 
Theoretically a loon should be able to go faster 
under water than on the surface, for on the 
surface the bird is retarded by the waves in 
front and the eddies behind, and the faster it 
goes the more it is retarded by these factors. 
The subject of the resistance of submerged 
* Birds of Essex County, 1905, p. 80. 
202 
