72 Bulletin of the 



I found another nest and nine fresh eggs on May 19th at the other end 

 of Heisterman's Island. Hole was about fifteen feet up. i climbed to entrance 

 and could plainly see the female sitting on her eggs, reached down, caught 

 her by the neck and pulled her off her nest. Put her under my left arm and 

 started down the tree. When about half way down I slipped and fell the rest 

 of the way — still hanging to the bird. I examined her at leisure. Had one 

 hand on her bill and held her feet with the other. I then let her go, 

 expecting of course that she would fly away, but she simply waddled off, 

 and when she was at a distance of about seven yards tried to coax me by 

 feigning lameness. 1 again climbed the tree and brought the eggs 

 down safely to the ground. The eggs closely resemble my other sets, and 

 are now in my cabinet. 



Quite a few of these birds nest around Saginaw Bay. Nests are hard 

 to find as the females will not flush. I have pounded hollow trees, contain- 

 ing nests, with an ax and rail, but the birds prove loyal to their homes. I 

 have climbed at least twenty trees for every nest I have found, so that the 

 finding of a nest requires laborous work and lots of climbing. 



I saw a female early in June with six little ones, they were in shallow 

 water close to an island. Could have caught the little ones, but did not 

 want to kill the innocent. Saginaw Bay is shallow and the American Mer- 

 ganser frequents it and is not found on the islands of Lake Huron where 

 the water is deep. 



This bird has not been recorded as nesting in Michigan previous to my 

 first finding the eggs in 1902. 



Battle Creek, Mich., August 20, 1903. 



WITH THE LOONS OF OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



FREDERICK C. HUBEL. 



Amid hundreds of small lakes surrounded by hills, beautified by their 

 green trees and shrubs, the Loon (Urinator imbcr) of Oakland County, 

 Michigan, finds a home most congenial to his tastes. 



Arriving from their winter home soon after the ice has melted before 

 the warm days of early spring, their weird cry is a most familiar and happy 

 greeting to the bird-student. Settling down in this region they remain ever 

 contented until the ice parts them from their food. 



As a diver the Loon is unsurpassed except by the auk and darter. While 

 trying to shoot this bird I have known it to dive and come up several hundred 

 yards from the spot of disappearance. These long distant swims often prove 

 fatal to the bird as it is not uncommon for a fisherman to discover one of 

 them drowned in his nets. Rising from the water they are slow and awk- 

 ward, which, of course, is due to their heavy weight. I have watched them 

 rise from lakes a half mile long and circle completely around before being 

 able to clear the hills and tree tops. Once at a considerable height their 

 flight is rapid and long sustained. The cry of the Loon, which is generally 

 heard about sunrise and sunset, is probably best described by Nuttall in the 

 words: "I have'often heard on a fine calm morning the sad and wolfish call 

 of the solitary Loon, which like a dismal echo seems slowly to invade the 

 ear, and rising as it proceeds, dies away in the air." 



The numerous marshes and bog land about these lakes afford splendid 

 breeding grounds for this bird as well as for the many other water fowl of 

 this locality. Deserted musk-rat houses, bare bogs and masses of decayed 

 vegetation situated along the edge of the marsh form the rude but suitable 

 platform upon which the eggs are deposited. From all records of this 



