78 BULLETIN 107, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
Behavior.—The flight of this loon is swift, strong and exceedingly 
direct; it is capable of long sustained flight and it generally flies in 
a straight line at a great height. The neck is outstretched to its 
fullest extent, the bill points straight forward and the large feet are 
extended backward, held close together, to serve as a rudder in place 
of its useless little tail. A long, slender figure, pointed at both ends, 
with small wings vibrating rapidly, can generally be recognized as 
a loon at even a long distance, but the various species can not be 
distinguished with certainty even at a short range except in full 
nuptial plumage; I know of no field mark by which the young birds 
may be recognized. The red-throated loon rises more easily from 
the water than the other species and gets under way more quickly; 
when alighting on the water it drops in heavily, striking at an angle, 
making a great splash and plowing up a furrow as it slides along 
the surface. It swims rapidly on the surface or with its body sub- 
merged. In diving it can sink quietly out of sight or dive like a 
flash, causing scarcely a ripple; but when not hurried or when in- 
tending to make a deep dive the neck is arched and the body thrown 
forward in a downward plunge with the wings closely pressed to 
the sides. Under water it makes astonishing speed, faster than a 
man can run along the shore, and it is useless to pursue one in a 
boat or a canoe; it can even outdistance an ordinary power boat. I 
believe that it ordinarily swims under water by using its feet alone, 
working them alternately; but when an extra burst of speed is de- 
sired the wings are also brought into play and the result is mar- 
velous. Dr. George Suckley (1860) noted this habit, as follows: 
Another individual which I obtained at New Dungeness, Straits of Fuca, I 
had an excellent opportunity of examining at a time it was attempting to es- 
eape from a shallow lagoon to the open water of the straits by swimming 
through the narrow outlet. Although slightly wounded, it moved so rapidly 
that I was obliged to run as fast as I could to keep up with it. At the same 
time, as the water was clear and shallow, I was able to watch its motions dis- 
tinctly. It had the head and neck extended nearly perfectly straight, the bill 
acting as a “ cut water,” and, in addition to the ordinary propulsion by the feet, 
used the wings exactly as if flying. Indeed, the bird was flying through water 
instead of air. 
The ordinary call note of the red-throated loon, which is a very 
noisy bird on its breeding grounds, is a goose-like, honking cry, 
which Nelson (1887) has described very well as follows: 
The harsh gr-r-ga gr-r, gr-r-ga, ga, gr-r, rising everywhere from the marshes 
during the entire 24 hours, renders this note one of the most characteristic that 
greets the ear in spring in these northern wilds. The red-throated loon is one 
of the very few birds which raised its voice in the quiet of the short Arctic 
night. In spring, with cranes, they foretell an approaching storm by the in- 
creased repetition and vehemence of their cries. 
