1896
- Ornithologisches Jahrbuch, VI, Hefte 5 and 6, Sept.-Dec, 1895.
- Ornithologisches Monatsbefichte, III, Nos. 10-12, Oct.-Dec., 1S95.
- Ottawa Naturalist, The, IX, Nos. 7-9, Oct.-Dec, 1S95.
- Our Animal Friends, XXIII, Nos. 1-4, Sept.-Dec, 1895.
- Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Part ii, April-Sept., 18915.
- Proceedings California Acad. Sci., 2d Ser. Vol. V, pt. 1, 1895.
- Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova Scotian Inst. Sci. VIII, 1895.
- Records of the Australian Museum, II, No. 6, 189^.
- Shooting and Fishing, XVIII, Nos. 22-26; XIX, Nos. 1-10, 1S95.
- Transactions of the Wisconsin Acad. Science, Arts and Letters, X. 1895.
- Zoölogist, The, 3d Ser., MX. Nos. 225-228, Sept.-Dec, 1S95.
GENERAL NOTES.
Do Young Loons eat Fresh-water Clams?—On July 5, 1S95, while paddling with my brother along the northern end of Lake Utopia, in the Province of New Brunswick, we saw near our canoe a young water bird which by its size and actions- and especially by the cries of its parents near by, was proven to be a young Loon, the Great Northern Diver (Urinator imber). Wishing to examine it more closely we chased, and in spite of its game efforts to escape, caught it. When near by we noticed something hanging to its bill which plainly much retarded its movements and which proved to be a fresh-water clam or mussel of two inches in length. Closer observation after the bird was carried ashore showed that nearly all of its lower bill was gone and that its tongue was caught between the tightly-closed valves of the still-living mollusk, and was the means of attachment of the one to the other. I cut the tongue close to the shell and released the bird which went splashing and diving away to rejoin its parents, though without tongue or lower bill it could scarcely have survived for long. I broke the clam-shell and inside found the missing bill with the remainder of the tongue attached. The ragged end of the bill made it seem plain that having been thrust into the gaping shell, which promptly and firmly closed, it had been wrenched and torn off by the efforts of the bird to free itself, but the tongue yielding elastically to the strains did not give way. The Loon was a very young one in the downy stage with pin-feathers just appearing in the wings. The mussel and bill I now have, preserved for the inspection of the curious.
