Year: 1867

In the fall the loon Colymbus glacialis


came, as usual, to moult and bathe in the


pond, making the woods ring with his wild


laughter before l had risen. At rumor s


his arrival all the Mill-dam spcrtsmen are


on the alert, in gigs and on foot, two by two
and three by three, with patent rifles and
ccnical balls and spy-glasses. They come
rustleing through the woods like autumr


leaves, at least ten men to one loon. Some
station themselves on this side Of the pond
some on that, for the poor bird connot bt
omnipresent; If he dive here he must come
up there. But now the kind October wind
rises, rustleing the leaves and ripping the
surface OF the water, so that no loon can be


heard or seen, though his foes sweep the
pond with spy glasses, and make the woods
resound with their discharges. The waves
generously rise and dash angri.y, taking
sides with all waterfowl, and our sportsmen


must beat q retreat 10 town and shop and


unfinished jobs. But they were To often


successful. When went to get pail OF


water early in the morning l frequently saw
this stately bird sailing out Of my cove with.
in few rods. III endeavored to overtake
him in boat, in ordes TO see how be would
manGuvre, he would dive and be completes
ly lost, SO that did not discover him again,
sometimes, till the latter part of the day.
But was more than match for him
on the surface. He commonly went off in q
rain.


As was padding along the north shore
ore very calm October afternoon, for such
days especially they settle on the lakes, like
the milkweed down, having looked in vain
over the pond for loon, suddenly one. sail.
ing out from the shore toward the middle a
few rods in front Of me, set up his wild
laugh and betrayed himself persued with
paddle and he dived. but when be came
up l was nearer than before. He dived
again, but | miscalculated the direction be
would take, and we were fifty rods apart
when he came to the surface this time, for l
had helpsd to widen the interval and again
be laughed long and loud, and with more
reason than before. He manGuvred so Gun.
ningly that could not get within half a
dozen rods Of him. Each time, when he
came to the surface, turning his head this
way and that, he cody surveyed the water
and the land, and apparently chose his
course SO that he might come up where there
was the widest expanse Of water and at the
greatest distance from the boat. Ii was sur
prising how quickly be made up his mind
and put his resolve into execution. He led
me at once to the widest part of the pond,
and could not be driven from it. While he
was thinking one thing in his brain; ! was
endeayoring to dsyine his thought in mine.


1t was pretty game, played on the smooth
surface Of the pond, man against o loon.
Suddenly your adversarys checker disap>
pears beneath the board, and the problem
is to place yours nearest to where his will
appear again. Sometimes he would come
up unexpectedly on the opposite side Of me
having apparently passed directly under the
boat. So long -winded was he and SO un>
weariabe, that when he had swum tarthess
he would immediately plunge again, never-
theless and then no wit could devine where
in the deep pond, beneath the smooth SUR
face, he might be speeding his way like q
fish. for be had time and ability to visit the
bottom of the pond in its deepes part. 1t is
said that looms have been caugh, in the New
York lakes eighty feet beneath the surface.
with hooks set for trout,-though Walden is
deeper than that. How surprised must the
fishes be 20 see this ungainly visitor from
another sphere speeding his way amid their
schools! Yet he appeared to know his
course as surely under water as on the sur
face, and swan much faster there. Once
or twice saw ripple where he approach-
ed the surface, just put his head out to re-
connoitre, and instantly dived again. l
found that it was as well for me to rest on
my oars and wait his reappearing as to en-
deavor to calculate where he would rise !;
for again and again, when was straining
my eyes over the surface one way. l would
suddenly be startled by his uneaIthly laugh
behind me. But why, after displaying SO
much cunning, did he invariably betray him.
self the moment be came up by that loud
laugh Did not his white breast enough
betray him? He was indeed u silly loon, l
thought could commonly hear the plash
of the water when he came up, and SO also
detected him. But after an hour he seemed
as fresh as ever, dived as willingly and swan
yet farther than at first. 1t was surprising
to see how serenely he sailed off with unruf>
fled breast when he came to the surface, do.
ing all the work with his webbed feet be-
meath. His usual note was this demoniae,
laughter, yet somewhat like that Of water.
fowl; but occasionally, when he had balked
ne most successfully and come up a long
way off, he uttered long-drawn unearthly
howl, probably more like that of a wolf than
any bird as when a beast puts his muzzle
to the ground and deliberately howls. This
was his looming, the widest sound
that is ever heard here, making the woods
ring far ard wide. conclude that he
laughed in derision at my efforts, confident
Of his own recourccs. Though the sky was
by this time overcast, the pond was so
smooth that could see where he broke the
surface when did not see him. His white
breast, the stiffness ofthe air, and the smooth.
ness OF the water were all against him. At
length having come up fifty rods OF, he ut>
tered one Of those prolonged howls rs ifcall-
ing on the god ofloons to aid him, aud imme-
diately there came wind from the east and
rippled the surface, and filed the whole air
with misty rain, and was impressed rs il
were the prayer Of the loon answered, and
his god was angry with me; and 50 lefthim
disappearing far away on the tumultuous