the surface. I have never seen Loons, Grebes or Cor¬ 
morants make any use of their wings under water. Nev¬ 
ertheless, in my “Game Birds, Wild-fowl and Shore 
Birds” the following statement appears in respect to the 
Loon: “When pursuing swift fish under water it often 
uses its wings, by means of which it can overtake the 
swiftest. This has been repeatedly observed. It can 
travel much faster under water in this manner than it 
can on the surface by means of its feet alone.” 
This statement, which possibly has been the subject of 
some criticism, was made as a fact only after a careful 
reading of the records of observations made by authori¬ 
ties and consultation with persons who had actually seen 
the Loons engaged in fishing or in using their wings for 
under-water progression, and I believe that it is essen¬ 
tially correct; but since it was written many of the exper¬ 
iences of other observers have been given me which indi¬ 
cate that even more than the above might be truthfully 
said. A careful ornithologist is inclined to believe only 
what he himself sees (and not all of that) and what is told 
him by friends on whose observations he knows that he 
can rely, but when well known and accredited observers 
working independently and far apart corroborate each 
other one cannot ignore their statements and one is justi¬ 
fied in drawing conclusions from them and in printing 
those conclusions, even though he may not have space to 
give the sources of his information. Apparently the Loon 
does not open its wings (as many other diving birds surely 
do) as it goes under water and no doubt this has given 
rise to the notion that it never uses them beneath the sur¬ 
face. No doubt there are many people who, like myself, 
have never seen a Loon use its wings under water and 
some who have seen it in subaqueous progression with the 
wings folded, but if we were to accept the testimony of 
these people as conclusive we should be in the position of 
the Negro judge before whom a murderer was on trial. 
The prosecution produced two witnesses who had actually 
seen the man commit the deed. The defence brought for- 
39 
