Loons

W.J. Keith is a retired professor of English at the University of Toronto and author A Sense of Style: Studies in the Art of Fiction in English-Speaking Canada.

This is one of a series of attractive coffee-table books devoted to
families or orders of birds. A companion volume to Ducks (1998), it is
made up of three pleasantly written and informative chapters about the
behavior of loons, the dangers they have faced and those they still
face, and the perennial attraction of observing them; moreover, it
contains close to 70 spectacular color photographs. Of the world’s
five species, only the Arctic loon is not represented here. The Pacific
and yellow-billed species are lightly represented, the vast majority of
the photos being of common and red-necked loons.

The photos are the most memorable part of the book, though the
photographers involved are only inconspicuously credited. (Over a third
of them are by Wayne Lynch.) The captions do not always identify the
species (though these are indicated by bold lettering in the index) and
are often only vaguely related to the photographs. In one instance,
indeed, the sole photograph containing no loon, we are informed that
“hawks, owls, eagles and osprey are all major predators” on
loons—yet the bird portrayed is clearly a jaeger!

These, however, are minor matters. Loons is a very beautiful book that
any bird lover would be happy to own. And any of the growing band of
loon lovers will be ecstatic.