When the loons come in the spring time they act differently from geese. They only swim in the water, because they cannot go up on land. And they make their nests around the edge of ponds or lakes because they don't walk on land. When they fly, some of the fat loons fall and almost touch the ground. When they land near their nesting place their wing feathers even come off sometimes. Just at dusk in the small ponds and lakes, they keep making a loud noise, as if they were crying. If there were no swans we used to hunt these birds. But they would dive under water really fast, some of them coming back up only to take a small peek. And they would keep on doing this, coming up and going back down under the water. The shot from the gun always misses the loons under the water. Loons are all the same in this way, even the Red-throated loons. That's how they are. Farther away on the water when the loons come up they are all wet. And even while they are still wet they start flying. Because they are very heavy like this they fly very low to the ground. Their flying is very different from any other bird's such as ducks or swans or pintails. The wind always seems to be blowing from the south when loons take off. And they always seem to fly with the wind. They're different birds alright.