GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 289 



of Ducks are procured in nearly the same manner. The male Turkey, in 

 the gobbling season, and the stag in autumn, may also be drawn within shot 

 by the same means. I once " tolled" two Loons with my hat from a 

 distance of nearly half a mile, and although they were at one time so near 

 to me that I could clearly perceive the colour of their eyes, I had no sure 

 opportunity of firing at them, as it was in the pairing season, and they never 

 once dived, or raised their wings to flap them, so that, knowing the extreme 

 agility with which they disappear when they have heard a gun snap, I judged 

 it useless to shoot. Until my visit to Labrador I had supposed, agreeably to 

 the common belief, that the Loons always repose at night on the water, 

 which, however, I have since assured myself they rarely if ever do. 



Colonel Montagu, than whom none has written more correctly on the 

 habits of the birds of Great Britain, having procured a wounded Loon, placed 

 it in a pond, and observed the manner in which it made its way under the 

 surface of the water. "In swimming and diving," he remarks, "only the 

 legs are used and not the wings, as in the Guillemot and Auk tribes, and by 

 their position so far behind, and their little deviation from the line of the 

 body, the bird is enabled to propel itself in the water with great velocity, in 

 a straight line, as well as turn with astonishing quickness." This I have no 

 doubt was the case with the individual observed; but that this is not the 

 usual mode of proceeding of the species is equally true. Having myself 

 seen Loons pass and repass under boats, at the distance of several feet from 

 the surface, and propel themselves both with their feet, and their half- 

 extended wings, I am inclined to believe that when not wounded, and when 

 pursuing their prey, they usually employ all the limbs. 



My friend Thomas Nuttall, who kept one for some time, gives the 

 following account of its manners while in his possession. "A young bird of 

 this kind which I obtained in the Salt Marsh at Chelsea Beach, and trans- 

 ferred to a fish-pond, made a good deal of plaint, and would sometimes 

 wander out of his more natural element, and hide and bask in the grass. On 

 these occasions he lay very still until nearly approached, and then slid into 

 the pond and uttered his usual plaint. When out at a distance he made the 

 same cautious efforts to hide, and would commonly defend himself in great 

 anger, by darting at the intruder, and striking powerfully with his dagger- 

 like bill. This bird, with a pink-coloured iris, like albinos, appeared to 

 suffer from the glare of broad day-light, and was inclined to hide from its 

 effects, but became very active towards the dusk of the evening. The pupil 

 of the eye in this individual, like that of nocturnal animals, appeared indeed 

 dilatable; and the one in question often put down his head and eyes into the 

 water to observe the situation of his prey. This bird was a most expert and 

 Indefatigable diver, and remained down sometimes for several minutes, often 



Vol. vil 41 



