STRANGE CREATURES WITH STRANGE VOICES. 103 



and these are nearly as large (three and a half inches 

 long) as those of a goose. 



The loon is a big bird, anywhere from twenty 

 to thirty-two inches long from bill to tail, and so 

 characteristically 

 aquatic 

 that he 



is absolutely helpless 

 and clumsy on land ; 

 the legs are too far 

 back to be of any 

 service in walking, 

 and when on the 

 shores of a lake he 

 shoves himself for- 

 ward partly on his 

 breast. I have heard 

 sportsmen say that it 

 was next to impos- 

 sible to shoot one 

 of the creatures ; he 

 must be struck in 



the head or not at all, as the feathers on the body 

 are so thick and close that the shot is effectually 

 checked by them ; besides that, as an escaping diver 

 the bird is without an equal. He disappears upon 

 the slightest provocation, swims under the water an 



The Loon. 



