The Forrest City times., 1891-01-30
A LOON ON THE LAKE.
ORE OF NATURES QUEER
 FREAKS IN BIRDS.
Yts Weird asd Tragic Cries q Frequcst Cause Of Alarm for TenJerfeet Difficulty ia Shooting Ihem-How the
 Bird Laughs.

Oi her WorNshop she completed lOO at once bold and original said au old and observant native of the Lake heuka country. according to a writer in the New York Sun. .lt is safe to call the loon either bird or an animal. for 1t has the feathers of one. the fur of the other and the heart of both. The fur is on tue breast and neck and under side Of the looms body. It is much of the same quality as beavers. A cloak made of loou's fur would Do T dainty wrap for the dantiest lady in this or any other land. The feathers of loon cover its back and wings They are soft and neecy. but as hard to pluck as pulling teeth. They have a peculiarly that nothing in nature except porcupines quills have. Looms feathers have the same peculiarity. and 1t Is impossible 10 keep them inside of a pillow or a cushion two hours at . time.
 The loon is particularly gifted with voice. At one time this curious creature can frighten the lie out of you. almost by snorting for all the world like an enrsged bear and the next minute will surprise you by COO ing almost as softly as Il ring dove. But night is the time when the loon comes out strongest as a striking vocal ist No one who hears for the first time the song of the loon at night, amid the solitude of lakeside camp, high among isolated hills. will ever be able to forget it. Iu the summer. when the nights arc moonlit the loon seems best to love to show his accom- plishments iu a vocal way. The great est of these is it's power Of vcntrilo- qLism. If you have lived much in the vicinity Of baekwoods lakes. you have undou btedly often heard woodsmen tell of the ventriloquial gifts of the loon. but it you never had auricular proof of it you. of course doubted the existence Of such power. You won't doubt 1t after you hear it. 1 will never forget the time l was convinced of it. had seen plenty of looms here on Lake kcuka. but had never been l where they spent their summers. One summer l was camping in the North Woods with q native guide. Our tent was only few feet from the shore Of one of the numerous small lakes in that region. l lay in the tent one night, watching the spectral pIsy of the moonbeams on the water. in and out among the shadows. gliding the noiseless ripples till the surface seem ed burnished sheet Of hammered
 brass. Tho silence was oppressive i Suddenly there arose from the lake, and apparently from it's farthest shore
 prolonged, haIf-satisied wait It gradually increased in volume until it was almost a shriek, which died away in a wall similar to the one with
 which tho startling cry had begun. 1 The vail was still in my cars when a blood -curdling yell-a yell cxpressi ve [ of supreme terror, smote the sileace
 1t came from somewhere on the shore, near the tent and to the right ot IL i This frightful yell ended in a wild burst Of demonical sound. It was still echoing through the forest when. from | the left shore of the lAke. and far ] away. moan, as of utter hopeless ness and despair, broke on the solemn 1 stiffness, rising and falling away into i silence with a cadence 50 sad that a | sense of most budening melancholy succeeded to the influence Of the forests midnight quiet. As soon as could shake of the depression 1. weighed ms with arose hurriedly and seized my gun. l awoke my com panion and told him of tho fearful sounds had heard.
 My companion pointed to the lake. ! There. gliding slowly on the surface. 1 it's long neck and bill outlined dis | tinctly as it foatcd in the moonligh. was the loon. 1t had come out from rocs away. I stepped forward quickly with my gun. Instantly tho long neck disappeared and a rim Of shim- mering ripples on the surface o' the lake alone marked the spo. where the strange creature had been,
 '''When lac comes up ag'in he'll morn likely be a mile away" said the guide. 'iou won't see him ag'in to- night, but the chances k that you II I hear h.m.
 l Perhaps five minutes passed. aud len two loud. wild, stsccato notes. sounding but A few rods away. came from the lake They were quickly followed by a series of exultsnt ehuckleA which seemed near when they began. but grew fainter with each succeeding chnckle until the lss. one was heard hat laintiy iu the distance
 But the greatest accomplishment a loon has is it's power of lodging bul- let At the flash of gun the creature will disappear beneath the water so quickly that you can scarcely believe you have seen one. 4 marksman who hits loon in tho open lake without the use of strategem has done the most difficult thing a maa can do with . gun. Sometimes loon will come to the surface within short distance of the spot where 1t went down, and frequently 1t will travel a mile or