LOON. 
389 
northern of the States, and probably in the inland seas of the 
St. Lawrence, along the whole Canadian line, they pass the 
period of reproduction. They have been known to breed as 
far south as the Fame Isles, on the coast of Northumberland, 
along with the Eider Ducks, with which they also associate on 
the shores of Labrador. In the Hebrides they are common 
in the summer season, as well as in Norway, Sweden, and 
Russia, from all which countries they seldom migrate to any 
considerable distance, being only accidental passengers on the 
coasts of the ocean ; the young only are seen, and rarely, on 
the lakes of Cermany, France, and Switzerland, but in those 
regions the old are unknown. In the United States, from the 
superior severity of the winters, the young, and even occasion- 
ally the old, are seen to migrate nearly, if not quite, to the 
estuary of the Mississippi. 
The Loon, cautious, vigilant, and fond of the security at- 
tending upon solitude, generally selects, with his mate, some 
lonely islet, or the borders of a retired lake far from the 
haunts of men ; here, on the ground, contiguous to the water, 
they construct their rude and grassy nest. About the nth 
of June, through the kindness of Ur. T. \V. Harris, I received 
three eggs which had been taken from the nest of a Loon, 
made in a hummock, or elevated grassy hillock, at Sebago 
Pond, in New Hampshire. These were about the size of the 
eggs of a Goose, of a dark, smoky olive, coarsely blotched 
nearly all over with umber-brown spots. The males, after the 
period of incubation, secede from their mates, and associate 
by themselves in the bays and estuaries near to the sea. They 
soon after moult, and become so bare of feathers as to be 
unable to rise from the water. The young, after being duly 
attended by the female parent, disperse with her towards the 
sea. Instinctively warned of the approach of frost, they avoid 
its consequences by slow but efficient migrations. As soon as 
the fish begin to fliil, the young, unable or unwilling to fly, are 
sometimes seen waddling from one pond to another, and in 
this situation are easily captured, as they refuse, or are inca- 
pacitated, to rise from the ground. When approached, they 
