At Porcupine Lake a yellow-billed loon was seen every day (July 13-18, 1952) but was not heard until 8:00 P.M. on July 17; its call was the first since our arrival on July 13. Thereafter its long drawn-out wail or raucous, hilarious call was uttered at intervals in the evening and well toward midnight.
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°05'40", 70°39'40", 8 ft., No. 30570, ad. female, July 29, 1951; Topagaruk River, 155°48', 70°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.