172 
GREAT NORTHERN" DIVER. 
of Ducks are procured in nearly the same manner. The male Turkey, in 
the gobbling season, and the stag in autumn, may also be drawn within 
shot by the same means. I once “ tolled” two Loons with my hat from a 
distance of nearly half a mile, and although they were at one time so near 
to me that I could clearly perceive the colour of their eyes, I had no sure 
opportunity of firing at them, as it was in the pairing season, and they never 
once dived, or raised their wings to flap them, so that, knowing the extreme 
agility with which they disappear when they have heard a gun snap, I judged 
it useless to shoot. Until my visit to Labrador I had supposed, agreeably 
to the common belief, that the loons always repose at night on the water, 
which, however, I have since assured myself they rarely if ever do. 
Colonel Montagu, than whom none has written more correctly on the 
habits of the birds of Great Britain, having procured a wounded Loon, 
placed it in a pond, and observed the manner in which it made its way under 
the surface of the water. “In swimming and diving,” he remarks, “ only 
the legs are used and not the wings, as in the Guillemot and Auk tribes, 
and by their position so far behind, and their little deviation from the line 
of the body, the bird is enabled to propel itself in the water with great 
velocity, in a straight line, as well as turn with astonishing quickness.” 
This I have no doubt was the case with the individual observed ; but that 
this is not the usual mode of proceeding of the species is equally true. 
Having myself seen Loons -pass and repass under boats, at the distance of 
several feet from the surface, and propel themselves both with their feet, and 
their half-extended wings, I am inclined to believe that when not wounded, 
and when pursuing their prey, they usually employ all the limbs. * 
My friend Thomas Nuttall, who kept one for some time, gives the 
following account of its manners while in his possession. “A young bird 
of this kind which I obtained in the Salt Marsh at Chelsea Beach, and trans- 
ferred to a fish-pond, made a good -deal of plaint, and would sometimes 
wander out of his more natural element, and hide and bask in the grass. On 
these occasions he lay very still until nearly approached, and then slid into 
the pond and uttered his usual plaint. When out at a distance 'he made the 
same cautious efforts to hide, and would commonly defend himself in great 
anger, by darting at the intruder, and striking powerfully with his dagger- 
like bill. This bird, with a pink-coloured iris, like albinos, appeared to 
suffer from the glare of broad day-light, and was inclined to hide from its 
effects, but became very active towards the dusk of the evening. The pupil 
of the eye in this individual, like that of nocturnal animals, appeared indeed 
dilatable ; and the one in question often put down his head and eyes into 
the water to observe the situation of his prey. This bird was a most expert 
and indefatigable diver, and remained down sometimes for several minutes, 
