Although the female had been incubating two nearly fresh eggs, her ovary, 35 mm long and 19 mm in diameter, contained ova of various sizes up to six mm in diameter. The female measured 850 mm in total length and weighed 4536 grams; the male was 900 mm in total length and weighed 6804 grams.
The nest, approximately 60 cm in diameter, of sedges, grasses and an assortment of plant debris, was on a mound of soil 23 cm above, and 40 cm from, the open water. The cup of the nest measured 37 mm in depth. The site of the nest (southeast corner of the lake) was near the area supporting the most lake trout (_Cristivomer namaycush_). Between open water of the lake and the shore, 20 feet of sedges and grasses deterred wolves (_Canis lupus_), red foxes (_Vulpes fulva_), and caribou (_Rangifer arcticus_) from molesting the nest; tracks of these mammals were numerous on contiguous shore areas.
The early run-off entering the lake created a variable water level (the overflow decreased 60 per cent in the period July 2 to July 11). The loons lay their eggs when the lake's level is fairly well stabilized. The cotton-grass (_Eriophorum_) at the latter date was developing white flowers and the sedges, growing in dense stands, were showing springtime green.
The force with which the excrement of the loon is expelled while standing on land, accounts for long white lines upwards of one meter in length. These lines of dried excrement, reaching as far as one and one-tenth meters landward, were noted at several places along the shore.
At Topagaruk on July 9, 1951, a single yellow-billed loon was observed. At Kaolak River (July 12-18, 1951) the yellow-billed loon was occasionally heard at night and, at times in the day. On July 18, an Eskimo, Atanak, accompanied by two companions from Wainwright, shot two loons of this species approximately two miles down the Kaolak River from our camp. They had planned to prepare the birds for their evening meal. With the exception of twelve pebbles averaging 3.5 mm in diameter in the one, the stomachs of the loons were empty. The female was given to us by the Eskimos. It measured 870 mm in total length, 1600 mm in wing spread, and 5897 grams in weight. The ovaries contained many ova, the largest eight mm in diameter. Many of the individual ova were black.