for its tenacity of life is great, and its speed far exceeds that of a four-oared boat." The great American naturalist, Audubon, has left a most interesting account of this bird in his "Ornithological Biography." After describing the various Transatlantic localities in which he has studied its economy, he describes its nest. "One that I saw," he says, "after the young had left it, on Lake Cayuga, was almost afloat, and rudely attached to the rushes, more than forty yards from the land, though its base was laid on the bottom, the water being only eight or nine inches deep. Others I examined in Labrador were placed on dry land, several yards from the water, and raised to the height of nearly a foot above the decayed moss on which they rested. The nest, however placed, is bulky, and formed of withered grasses and herbaceous plants found in the neighbourhood. The true nest, which is from a foot to fifteen inches in diameter, is raised to the height of seven or eight inches. Of the many nests I have examined, more contained three than two eggs, and I am confident that the former number most frequently occurs." Of this handsome bird Sir John Richardson remarks, contrary to the generally-received notion, that it is seldom seen either in the Arctic Sea or Hudson's Bay, but that it abounds in all the inland lakes. It is rarely found on land, being ill fitted for walking, but admirably adapted to aquatic habits, swimming with great swiftness and for considerable distances under water; and when it does come up, seldom exposing more than its neck. It flies heavily, but rather swiftly, and in a circle round those who have disturbed it in its haunts; its loud and melancholy cry resembling the howling of the Wolf, or the distant scream of a man in distress. When the Loon calls frequently, it is supposed to portend a storm. In the bad weather preceding the advent of winter on the smaller northern American lakes, previous to migration, their wild, weird note is so unnatural, that both the Indians and settlers ascribe to it supernatural powers. The Imbrine Diver, _L'Imbrim_ of Buffon, is also a fine bird of blackish plumage shaded with white, the belly and a ring round the neck being also white. The head is of a changeable black and green colour. When it has young, in place of diving under water, as its ordinary habit is when threatened, it boldly attacks its enemies with its beak. Its skin serves the Greenlanders as clothing. It inhabits the Arctic seas of both hemispheres, is abundant about the Hebrides, in Norway, in Sweden, and even on the coast of Scotland. Its appearance on the French coast is very irregular, and only after great storms.