LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN DIVING BIRDS. 71 
Murdoch (1885) refers to the vocal powers of this species as fol- 
lows: 
Their peculiar harsh cry, ‘kok, kok, kok,” from which they get their name, 
“ Kaksau,” is to be heard all summer, and the birds were seen nearly every 
day, flying backward and forward and inland from the sea, During the 
breeding season these smaller loons have a habit of getting off alone in some 
small pond and howling like a fiend for upward of half an hour at a time. 
It is a most bloodcurdling, weird, and uncanny sort of a screant, and the 
amount of noise they make is something wonderful. They can be heard for 
miles. 
Fatl.—The same writer says of their movements in the fall: 
After the breeding season they are frequently to be seen in the open pools 
along the shore, especially when the lagoons have broken out. They are always 
very wild and difficult to secure. They are plenty through August and the 
greater part of September along the shore, and occasional stragglers remain 
around open holes well into October. Some appeared to be feeding young as 
late as the middle of September, 1882, as they were seen going inland from the 
sea carrying small fish. 
The fall migration route seems to be straight south down the 
Pacific coast of North America. The winter range extends from 
British Columbia southward to Lower California, but the species 
is apparently most abundant in winter in the southern portion of this 
range, for it occurs more abundantly on the California coast as a 
migrant than as a winter resident. Mr. A. B, Howell writes me 
that— 
During migration they often gather in flocks of 50 or more just beyond the 
surf during the heat of the day. While some sleep with their heads beneath 
their wings, others play, chasing their companions or paddling around on their 
sides with one foot in the air. They seem to be fond of fishing in company 
with the cormorants. 
DISTRIBUTION. 
‘Breeding range.—Northern portions of North America. East to 
the Melville Peninsula (Winter Island), Southampton Island, Hud- 
son Bay, western Ungava (Long Island, north of Cape Jones), and 
northwestern Greenland (Carey Islands). South to central Kee- 
watin (York Factory), southern Mackenzie (Great Slave Lake), 
central British Columbia (Stuarts Lake) and southwestern Alaska 
(Kodiak Island and Alaska Peninsula). West to Bering Sea. North 
to northwestern Alaska (Point Barrow), Banks Land, and the entire 
Arctic coast of Alaska and Mackenzie. Also northeastern Siberia 
west to the Indigirka River. 
Turner records them as: present throughout the year in the Aleu- 
tian Islands and breeding on the Near Islands (Semichi). Recorded 
in summer and may occasionally breed in Queen Charlotte Islands 
(Skidegate, several July 9), southern Alaska (Sitkan district, few 
pairs; Admiralty Island, few pairs remain), Herald Island (two 
