LOON. 
GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 
Urin.wor IMBER. 
Char. Mantle black, spotted with white; head and neck black, \vith 
green and purple reflections; throat with two bands of white stripes; 
under parts white. I.ength very variable, ranging from 28 to 33 inches, 
though specimens measuring about the extremes of this variation are 
more common than those of intermediate length. 
Nest. Amid r.ank herbage near the water, on the margin of a lake or 
river, often on an island, sometimes on the sea-shore. 
Eg!^s. 2-3 (usually 2) ; olive brown with a few darker spots; aver.age 
size about 3.50 X z.^ 5 - 
The Loon, the most common of its tribe in the Lnited 
States, is a general inhabitant of cold and temperate climates 
throughout the whole northern hemisphere. It is found in 
the north of Europe, and spreads along the Arctic coasts as 
far as Kamtschatka, Nootka Sound, and the mouth of the Ob. 
It dwells on the dreary coast of Spitzbergen. Greenland, Ice- 
land, and Hudson Bay. These birds abound in all the lakes of 
the fur countries, where, as well as in the interior of the most 
