gh the air, and it is by means of their
swift flight through the water and the swiftness of the blow they
strike with their long, spear-like bills that they are able to capture
the fishes on which they feed. I ran down the meadow with the gun, got
into my boat, and pursued that poor winter-bound straggler. Of course
he dived again and again, but had to come up to breathe, and I at
length got a quick shot at his head and slightly wounded or stunned
him, caught him, and ran proudly back to the house with my prize. I
carried him in my arms; he didn't struggle to get away or offer to
strike me, and when I put him on the floor in front of the kitchen
stove, he just rested quietly on his belly as noiseless and motionless
as if he were a stuffed specimen on a shelf, held his neck erect, gave
no sign of suffering from any wound, and though he was motionless, his
small black eyes seemed to be ever keenly watchful. His formidable
bill, very sharp, three or three and a half inches long, and shaped
like a pickaxe, was held perfectly level. But the wonder was that he
did not struggle or make the slightest movement. We had a
tortoise-shell cat, an old Tom of great experience, who was so fond of
lying under the stove in frosty weather that it was difficult even to
poke him out with a broom; but when he saw and smelled that strange
big fishy, black and white, speckledy bird, the like of which he had
never before seen, he rushed wildly to the farther corner of the
kitchen, looked back cautiously and suspiciously, and began to make a
careful study of the handsome but dangerous-looking stranger. Becoming
more and more curious and interested, he at length advanced a step or
two for a nearer view and nearer smell; and as the wonderful bird kept
absolutely motionless, he was encouraged to venture gradually nearer
and nearer until within perhaps five or six feet of its breast. Then
the wary loon, not liking Tom's looks in so near a view, which
perhaps recalled to his mind the plundering minks and muskrats he had
to fight when they approached his nest, prepared to defend himself by
slowly, almost imperceptibly drawing back his long pickaxe bill, and
without the slightest fuss or stir held it level and ready just over
his tail. With that dangerous bill drawn so far back out of the way,
Tom's confidence in the stranger's peaceful intentions seemed almost
complete, and, thus encouraged, he at last ventured forward with
wondering, questioning eyes