General Hints.
The [Loon] and [Grebes] are common representatives of the order of Diving Birds. Their legs are set far back on the body, making it difficult for them to walk at all.
[Grebes] look like small, tailless ducks. They have long, slender necks, short wings, smooth glossy plumage and flat, lobed feet. They rarely leave the water and can dive or sink out of sight instantly when disturbed, swimming to a distance with only the tip of the bill out of water.
[Loons] are very large, with flat, heavy bodies, short tails and long, tapering bills. They are never crested, but are conspicuously marked, and are equally expert with the grebes in diving and sinking.
[Gulls] and [Terns] belong to the order of the Long-winged Swimmers, but are better described by the name of Skimmers.
[Terns] are much slenderer and usually smaller than gulls, have very pointed bills and wings, and forked tails. They rarely if ever swim, but skim swallow-like over the water, bill downward, plunging into the water for their prey.
[Gulls] are plumper than terns, with heavier bills and tails usually even. They do not dive or plunge suddenly into the water, but fly and soar or float about on the surface, sitting well up out of the water.
Ducks, Geese and Swans have webbed feet and short legs, and in walking carry themselves almost horizontal. As a rule they have very strong wings, enabling them to fly long distances at great speed. Our ducks are most easily remembered in three groups:—
1. The fish-eating Mergansers, whose plumage is largely black and white and which have saw-edged bills and, usually, conspicuous crests.
2. The Sea Ducks, which are conspicuously marked but plainly colored, frequent open water or the sea coast, diving, often to great depths, for their food. Descriptions are given of the [Lesser Scaup], [Redhead], Canvas-back, [American Golden-eye], [Old-squaw] and [Buffle-head].