File:The birds of America - from drawings made in the United States and their territories (1840) (14564123347).jpg

Identifier: birdsofamericafr07audu (find matches)
Title: The birds of America : from drawings made in the United States and their territories
Year: 1840 (1840s)
Authors: Audubon, John James, 1785-1851 Bowen, John T., ca. 1801-1856?, lithographer
Subjects: Birds Birds
Publisher: New York : Published by J.J. Audubon Philadelphia : J.B. Chevalier
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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glossy tints of its head and neck, andthe singular regularity of the unnumbered spots by which its dusky backand wings are checkered. I have met with the Great Diver, in winter, on all the water-courses ofthe United States, whence, however, it departs when the cold becomesextreme, and the surface is converted into an impenetrable sheet of ice. Ihave seen it also along the whole of our Atlantic coast, from Maine to theextremity of Florida, and from thence to the mouths of the Mississippi, andthe shores of Texas, about Galveston Island, where some individuals in theplumage characteristic of the second moult, were observed in the month ofApril 1S37. Indeed, as is the case with most other species of migratingbirds, the young remove farther south than the old individuals, which arebetter able to withstand the cold and tempests of the wintry season. The migratoiy movements of this bird seem to be differently managed inthe spring and autumn. In the latter case, a great number of young Loons
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GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 283 are seen to alight on the head waters of our great streams, on which, withoutmuch exertion, being aided by the current, they float along, diving at intervalsin pursuit of the numerous fishes, as they proceed toward milder climes.The few old birds which, at a later date, appear on the same water-courses,frequently take to wing, and shorten their way by flying at a considerableelevation directly across the great bends or peninsulas. These modes oftravelling are also adopted by those which advance along the Atlantic coasts,where, indeed, the birds have the double advantage of meeting with foodand obtaining repose, on the rivers and on the sea. I think, however, thatthis maritime course is followed only by such of the Loons as have bred inthe more immediate vicinity of the coast. But whether you are in theinterior, or on the coast, it is seldom that you see at a time more than oneLoon travelling at this season; whereas, in spring, they proceed in pairs, themale t

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