GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 109 
of March and April it is again seen, and, after lingering 
awhile, it leaves us for the purpose of breeding. The loons 
are found along the coast as well as in the interior ; but in 
the summer they retire to the fresh-water lakes and ponds. 
We have never heard that they breed in Pennsylvania, 
but it is said they do in Missibisci pond, near Boston, 
Massachusetts. The female lays two large brownish eggs, 
They are commonly seen in pairs, and procure their food, 
which is fish, in the deepest water of our rivers, diving after 
it, and continuing under for a length of time. Being a wary 
bird, it is seldom they are killed, eluding their pursuers by 
their astonishing faculty of diving. ‘They seem averse from 
flying, and are but seldom seen on the wing. They are never 
eaten. 
The loon is restless before a storm ; and an experienced 
master of a coasting vessel informed me that he always knew 
when a tempest was approaching by the cry of this bird, which 
is very shrill, and may be heard at the distance of a mile or 
more. The correctness of this observation I have myself since 
experienced in a winter voyage on the southern coasts of the 
United States. 
during winter, in the middle States ; and Colymbus septentrionalis, red- 
throated diver : all are common also to Europe and Great Britain, 
The vast lakes and rivers of America, and her interminable swamps, 
would seem proper nurseries for another family, the grebes ; and their 
recluse yet active aquatic manners must either have yet prevented the 
discovery of more species, or this form is comparatively wanting to that 
division of the world. Two species only are mentioned in Wilson’s 
“ History,” and Bonaparte adds other two. They are as follows, from 
that gentleman’s “ Synopsis :”— 
Podiceps. 
1. P. cristatus, Lath.—Crested grebe of Wilson’s List; rare in the middle 
States, and only during winter common in the interior and on the lakes. 
2. P. rubricollis, Lath.—Rare, and during winter only, in the middle States ; 
very common in Arctic America, 
3. P. cornutus, Lath.—Common during winter, the young especially, in 
the middle States. 
4. P. Carolinensis, Lath.—Little grebe, of Wilson’s List ; inhabits the whole 
continent of America, not extending far to the north. Common from 
Canada to Louisiana, migrating in the middle States.—ED. 
