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 
