n8 THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER 
echoes of the lake are kept alive with sounds por- 
tentous of new departures in the Loon world ♦ Then 
a peculiar object is seen to emerge from the marshy 
bay and cross under the shadowy Cedars toward the 
open water* A field-glass shows it to be the mother 
Loon and her two offsprings, the three huddled so 
closely together that they are almost indistinguishable* 
The mother is unceasing in her care and attention* 
She strokes the backs of the young birds with her 
bill, playing and fussing around and close to them, as 
if they could not exist without her constant attention* 
Now and then she leans over and lifts a broad, black, 
webbed foot out of the water, holding it up distended, 
as if to endorse the modern theory that the parent 
Loon teaches her young to swim* They cling to each 
other and cling to her, as if afraid of being lost in 
the great expanse of water to which they have been 
so recently introduced* 
A short distance away the father swims about in 
lordly indifference, diving occasionally and regaling 
himself on unsuspecting fish* A boat comes out from 
the shore, rowed by an industrious guide, with an 
angler, picturesquely protected by a mosquito net, 
sitting in the stern* The mother Loon pushes and 
urges her indolent pair in the direction of safety. 
How slow they must seem as she hurries and en- 
courages them ! The trio moves at a snail's pace 
compared with her ordinary speed, and they show no 
