Part 4

A yellow-billed loon was on the south end of Lake Peters on August 4, 1952. At 9:00 A.M. it caught a small fish at the mouth of Carnivore River. The loon flew north approximately five miles to Lake Schrader where it was known to have young.

Of the three species of loons observed on the Arctic Slope, the yellow-billed loon is the least numerous. Owing to its large size this loon is more often taken than either of the others. Eskimos consider its dark, fine grained flesh a delicacy. On the more isolated areas of the Arctic Slope the yellow-billed loon remains common; elsewhere it needs protection.

Additional specimens, especially from the contact zone between the areas of geographical distribution of Gavia immer and Gavia adamsii, are needed in order to decide on the subspecific versus specific status of these two kinds of loons.

+Gavia arctica pacifica+ (Lawrence): Arctic loon.--Specimens, 2: Barrier Lake, NE Teshekpuk Lake, 153 deg.05'40", 70 deg.39'40", 8 ft., No. 30570, ad. female, July 29, 1951; Topagaruk River, 155 deg.48', 70 deg.34', 10 ft., No. 30572, ad. female, July 7, 1951.

On July 3, 1952, between Umiat and Ivashak River, pairs of Arctic loons were on only small and medium sized lakes; on this date they mostly were free of ice whereas large lakes were ice covered and thus unavailable to this species of loon. The use of small and medium sized lakes by this loon may result from the described unavailability of large lakes at nesting time. The tundra, at this time, when nesting has begun, is free of snow except for cornices and deposits in deep gullies. Willows and alders at Umiat on July 3 were without foliage, whereas these plants farther east were in leaf. On July 4, 1951, at two-tenths of a mile south of the Arctic Research Laboratory, a single bird flew over the tundra and onto the Arctic Ocean beyond. It called regularly as it passed overhead. At Topagaruk (July 5, 1951) the pairs of Arctic loons were nesting on the vegetated edges of lakes of medium size. This species of loon constituted less than one per cent of the avian population of the area. A nest of this loon on a promontory between two lakes and within 30 centimeters of deep water was damp, shallow, slightly depressed and held eggs exposed to view. On July 7, the female was killed as she left the nest. The wind blowing offshore drifted her toward the center of the lake. Later, as she reached a point near the opposite side, the male alighted near the dead female and indulged in its courtship display of raising and lowering its head and neck. Swimming around the mate several times he continued to solicit attention from the lifeless form. An hour later we examined the off-shore and found the dead female among the sedges. By this time the male had abandoned its mate and was observed feeding in an adjacent lake. Arctic loons on several adjacent lakes could be heard. The male that had been deprived of its mate, did not respond.

The female weighed 1200 grams. The largest ovum was eight mm in diameter; others were smaller and the smallest were in clusters. On leaving the nest we placed mosses and grasses over it to protect the single egg from the parasitic jaegers. We wished to learn whether the male returned and incubated the egg. On our approach on July 8 he was on the nest but left and swam approximately 200 feet under water before surfacing. On the afternoon of the same day the single egg was cold and unattended. The male was swimming on a nearby lake some 300 yards distant. Two pairs of the Arctic loon were observed swimming on adjacent lakes. On July 9, the male was again incubating the egg.

The Arctic loon calls frequently when flying overhead. The Eskimos were adept at imitating the loon's call and were successful in having the birds respond.

At Kaolak River (July 12-18, 1951), pairs of the Arctic loon used the course of the stream as a flight lane.

On an airflight from east to west between the mouth of the Canning River Canyon and Umiat (July 18, 1952) I noted an increase in the numbers of this loon, especially over the lakes near the Colville River.

Seven pairs and two singles of this species were observed between the mouth of the Avalik River and a point 23.3 miles from the Arctic Ocean when I flew directly from Kaolak to Point Barrow. In the above 33 miles of coastal plain, the greatest interval between loons was 9.7 miles, the shortest 1.9 miles, the average 5.9 miles. The last 23.3 miles before reaching the Arctic Ocean, produced no records of the loon. On a lake near the Arctic Ocean, 3.8 miles southwest from Barrow Village, a single pair was observed.

Upon our arrival at Barrier Lake, northeast of Teshekpuk Lake (July 29, 1951), there were two adult and two young Arctic loons at the south end of the lake at a point approximately 300 feet from where we camped. During our stay at the lake, the loons nearly all of the time remained on approximately 1-1/2 acres of water in spite of being disturbed and having their territory periodically invaded by us. Adjacent to the area of the lake used by this family of loons were three small lakes connected by wide channels to Barrier Lake. Other small lakes to the east were connected by smaller channels. The loons preferred to feed in the lakes having larger connecting channels.

In the evening of the first day of observation, the female together with her two young was on land. The male was swimming approximately 200 feet out on the lake. The female was shot as she was flushed from the bank. The largest ovum was four mm in diameter. On the morning of the second day (15 hours after the female was shot) the male was observed tending the young; one young was by his side and the other had wandered to a point 40 feet away. A parasitic jaeger came and hovered above the straying young loon and then dived vertically to seize it. The male loon was too far away to reach its young before the jaeger departed. As the jaeger was leaving the area, three other parasitic jaegers pursued the first in an attempt to wrest from its beak the young loon. The contest for possession of the young loon continued as far as the eye could follow the contestants.

On August 2, at 3:35 P.M. the surviving members of this loon family--the male and the one young--rested on the water of the lake, approximately 200 feet from shore. The adult dozed with its head tucked under its wing--head end oriented into the wind except for occasional complete turns. These were made without visible change of posture. The young one alternated by swimming around its parent and resting at which time it tucked its head under its wing. Toward evening, the male was shot. A survey of the area the following morning disclosed the absence of the young loon, not to be seen again during our stay. It was noted that during our sojourn of seven days, when the male was left with the orphaned young, the parent would fly to Teshekpuk Lake some 1-1/2 miles to the south to procure food. The young loon when left alone would dive under water when approached.

On August 4, a pomarine jaeger pursued the male loon as it was returning from fishing on Teshekpuk Lake. When the birds first were seen, the jaeger was approximately 200 feet behind the loon, but in a distance of approximately 300 feet the jaeger overtook the loon which had reached the shore of Barrier Lake. When the jaeger was ready to strike in order to make the loon drop the fish it was carrying, the loon dropped over the erosional cliff and splashed into the water. After 30 seconds of hovering over the submerged loon, which remained under water for one minute, the jaeger departed to the west. The loon came to the surface holding the fish tightly crosswise in its beak.

Numerous calls of the Arctic loon were heard on the Barrier Lake area. When a person enters the territory of a family of loons, the male makes a sound similar to a courting tomcat. The female responds with a like sound and in addition concludes her call with a high pitched note. When mildly disturbed, low guttural notes are uttered by both sexes, and are continued as a person penetrates farther into the territory of the loons, especially when young are present. In addition to the above-mentioned calls, loons have a ravenlike call, one resembling the cackling of a domestic fowl, and another resembling the bleating of a lamb.

The male concerns himself less than does the female with the safety of the family; nevertheless, attempts were noted in which the male endeavored to decoy the intruder and allow the female and young to retreat from the area. The loons react to caribou, if these animals approach too closely to the shore line adjacent to the territory of the loons.

On July 30, 1951, pairs of loons were flying over the tundra between Barrier Lake and Teshekpuk Lake.

On an airflight from Teshekpuk Lake to Point Barrow (Aug. 4, 1951) I saw Arctic loons as follows: 63 miles from Point Barrow, one; 25 miles from Point Barrow, two; 10 miles from Point Barrow, four.

At Chandler Lake (Aug. 12, 1951), a single Arctic loon was frequently heard at the southeast end near the mouth of the Chandler River. In the evening of August 13, the wind changed from the normal southern wind to a cold wind from the north. Thereafter no Arctic loon was detected at the mouth of the river until August 22 when a bird there called at three intervals in the day. Presumably the change in direction of wind caused the fish and the loon to leave the south end of the lake. Arctic loons in other parts of the lake were heard every day from August 8 to August 25 inclusive.

On August 19, 1952, when we flew from Umiat to Gavia Lake, the loons seemed to be more restless and more easily disturbed than on our earlier flights. Wariness probably increases as the season advances.

On August 20, 1952, through August 23, 1952, six pairs of Arctic loons and 10 old squaw ducks were on Gavia Lake (named after the Arctic loon, genus Gavia). These were the only large birds on the lake on these dates. The loons dove as they sensed danger, emitting, before the dive, a single doglike yelp.

On September 2, 1952, at 1/2 mile northeast of Barrow Village, we passed an Arctic loon on the beach six feet from the waters of the Arctic Ocean. On the return trip, two hours later, the loon was again seen in the same area, now preening its feathers. As we approached it walked to the water and began to swim through the breakers of the ocean. Snow was falling, telling of the approach of the migratory season for this species.

+Gavia stellata+ (Pontoppidan): Red-throated loon.--Specimens, 4: NE Teshekpuk Lake, 153 deg.05'40", 70 deg.39'40", 8 ft., No. 30576, ad. male and No. 30577, ad. female, July 29, 1951; Kaolak River, 159 deg.47'40", 70 deg.11'15", 30 ft., No. 30574, ad. male, July 18, 1951 and No. 30575, ad. female, July 14, 1951.

At the west side of Salt Water Lagoon (June 17,1952) we observed a single red-throated loon feeding in the lake. At Point Barrow (June 21, 1952) 15 birds in one loose flock flew east along the shore of the Arctic Ocean.

At Kaolak River (July 13, 1951) three pairs of red-throated loons nested among high sedges along the edges of small lakes (some as small as 100 x 40 feet). Of the three species of loons on the Arctic Slope, this one chooses the smallest bodies of water for nesting. Each of two nests held two eggs approximately 1/2 incubated. One nest and that of an Arctic tern were approximately 30 feet apart on an island in the center of the lake. The loons arrived and departed from the lake without molestation by the terns, but whenever we approached the lake a tern would fly 300 feet out on the lake to meet us. On July 14, the female loon was shot. The largest ovum was 8 mm in diameter. On July 16, we again visited the above mentioned nest. The male was incubating and left unnoticed. While we were inspecting the nest the loon reappeared only six feet away and uttered one guttural note seemingly of surprise. The loon hurriedly swam away keeping its head turned toward us and when at a distance of 25 feet, dove again. Fifteen minutes after we left the nest the bird could still be seen swimming about in the lake. On July 18 the male was shot. It weighed 2268 grams and its testes were 10 mm long. The eggs, measuring 73 x 42 and 69 x 43 mm, of this pair of loons held embryos having natal down. Although the loon usually approached the nest from the direction of open water, several trails led to the nest among sedges. One call by these birds resembled that of a wolf and was generally given between 11:00 P.M. and 2:00 A.M. Other calls were froglike, humanlike and birdlike in quality.

On a small lake between Barrier Lake and Teshekpuk Lake (July 29, 1951) a male and female attracted our attention by uttering guttural notes and occasionally a sound resembling the meowing of a cat. This lake was approximately 200 feet long and 40 feet wide and was bordered by exceptionally high sedges. Several points of sedges projected into the lake from its edge. When the loons were approached they dove under water with a splash suggesting the sound made by a beaver as it strikes its tail against the water before submerging. A loud high-pitched shrieklike call was given just before diving. They remained under water for about 20 seconds, came to the surface, and repeated the behavior. These birds were capable of leaving the lake but remained in close proximity to their young that were hiding in the grasses and sedges along the side of the lake. Both adult birds were collected. A broken egg was on one of the points of vegetation that projected into the lake. This lake was approximately 600 feet from feeding grounds at Teshekpuk Lake where small fish three-fourths of an inch in length were numerous (30 per square foot) along the edge of the lake. Other red-throated loons were noted on July 29 through August 4.

At Chandler Lake (Aug. 15, 1951), two red-throated loons frequently fed in a small meandering creek at the south end of the lake.

+Olor columbianus+ (Ord): Whistling swan.--On July 16, 1951, a boat with three Eskimos neared a point of land approximately 1/3 mile north of our camp on the Kaolak (Kuk) River. At 200 feet from the point, two adult whistling swans and three cygnets left the edge of the river. The female pretended to have a crippled wing and flapped upstream on the surface of the water for 100 feet and then continued at normal cruising speed. The male left the area but returned in a few minutes and joined the female as she endeavored to lure the hunters up the river. The Eskimos inspected the shore where the swans had been resting and then returned to their boat and continued up the river in the wake of the female swan which was then 200 yards upstream. As the boat approached the female, she fluttered out of their way and the boat passed at approximately 30 feet. The Eskimos did not attempt to shoot at the male, the female, or the three cygnets. The following day we inspected the area from which the swans had been flushed. Four molted primary feathers of the adults were found. Twenty feet from the edge of the river was an old nest which had been occupied the previous year. This nest was in willows and grasses one foot high. At our camp (July 12), numerous foot prints measuring 160 mm in length and 142 mm in width of the swan were noted on the north side of a sand bar in the river.