204 LOST AND VANISHING BIRDS 



winter many individuals are shot in the most 

 wanton manner and left where they fall. This, wc 

 regret to say, is a frequent occurrence off the 

 coasts of South Devon, more especially with regard 

 to the Great Northern Diver (Colymbus glacialis). 

 We doubt very much if this species ever bred in 

 the British Islands ; but the two following Divers 

 do so, and it is respecting these that our remarks 

 are chiefly made. The Black - throated Diver 

 (Colymbus arcticus), is by far the rarest and most 

 local species, although we are glad to say it still 

 breeds in considerable numbers, not only in the 

 Hebrides and the Orkneys, but on the mainland 

 from Argyll northwards to Caithness. The Red- 

 throated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis), has 

 much the same range in our islands, frequenting 

 most of the coasts during autumn and winter, and 

 occupying a very similar distributional area in 

 summer, but including the Shetlands. This Diver 

 also breeds sparingly in Ireland, in which country 

 the Black-throated Diver is rarely seen at any 

 season, and has never been known to nest. The 

 Divers probably owe their immunity from per- 

 secution to the inaccessibility and remoteness of 

 their breeding haunts ; but every year tourists 

 are overrunning the land in ever - increasing 



