Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 88, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 April 1910 — “AS CRAZY AS A LOON.” [ARTICLE]

“AS CRAZY AS A LOON.”

Old Phrase Seemingly Not a Libel on That Eccentric Bird. One often hears the expression “As crazy as a loon,” and yet I wonder,” says a frlter in St. Nicholas, “how many realize how peculiarly fitting it sometimes is. Of all the birds and animals that have come under my observation I know of none that in any degree approaches the loon for sheer craziness or weirdness. “Evening seems to be the loons’ favorite time for their peculiar behavior. They collect in the middle of a lake, and when they have summoned all of their kind within hearing the ball commences. They raise their bodies half out of water by furiously flapping their wings, at the same time making a most terrific splashing. ■ "They then propel themselves backward and forward, half swimming, half flying, all the while screaming at the top of their voices. They keep this up from ten to fifteen minutes and seem to get a great deal of satisfaction out of it. In the calm of a summer evening, and aided a bit by the echoes, a half dozen loons can make the fellows in a college cheering section hang their heads for shame.

“The loon is not only crazy acting, but at times is very aggravating. Perhaps, for Instance, after a hard day you are sitting by the camp fire, quietly smoking and at peace with the whole world; suddenly there breaks upon your ears the most blood-curdling scream, followed by heartrending cries. Your first thought is that there is a child being murdered or a woman in distress and you start to your feet. Then you realize that it is only a loon. “Or, perhaps, having turned in, you are sleeping the sleep that comes only in the pine-scented north. Again you start and wake as you hear a long, mournful cry echoing through the forest, and Involuntarily exclaim ‘wolves!’ There is a grunt and the sleepy voice of your guide comes from the depth of his blankets: ‘Non, m’sieu’; loon.' “In the morning a hunter rises bent on vengeance for his broken repose and resolves to destroy the fiend as he sits mirrored in the lake. Although the modern cartridge and rifle gives no warning of the shot, as did the oldfashioned flintlock with its ‘flash in the pan,’ nevertheless, the loon nearly every time seems to know just when the bullet is coming and dives just in time to escape. Immediately after the discharge of the rifle the loon is serenely up again, its mocking laughter being but an added Irritation. On the whole, he seems rather to enjoy the performance. “As a diver the loon excels, and naturally, for it is his means of livelihood. Not only is he marvelously quick but he can remain under water for a seemingly endless time. In swimming under water he uses both wings and feet and can go for several hundred yards in this fashion. The loon, like many other water fowls, sleeps on the water, with his head tucked under hla wing. “Several summers ago a friend of mine while camped on Lake Klamika was out for an early morning paddle. Out on the lake he espied a sleeping loon, and by dint of careful paddling he actually succeeded .in approaching and capturing him. Proud of his cap ture, he took the loon ashore and tethered him to a stake. The loon struggled at first, but after a while seemed to become reconciled. All went well until nightfill. Then the loon set up such a hideous outcry and kept it up so persistently that before morning he had earned his freedom."