176 Wild Birds and their Haunts 



THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER 

 (COLYMBUS GLACIALIS). 



THIS very handsome bird occurs on the shores of 

 England, during winter, in a manner similar to 

 the black-throated diver, but less frequently ; 

 and upon all the British or Irish coasts it is much more 

 rare. From the Firth of Forth to the Tyne may be said 

 to be his favourite grounds during a hard winter. It 

 breeds in the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. 



A curious bit of Lapland folk-lore may be inserted 

 here. The inhabitants of this far north region believe 

 that should a person hear the cry of any of the divers in 

 the spring, and while fasting, the milk from his flocks 

 will not curdle for the whole year. 



The people here make two sorts of hats from the skins 

 of the different divers, which are either given as presents 

 or sold to traders on the coast. The one kind, and which 

 must have rather a handsome appearance, is made from 

 the skins of the Great Northern diver ; the shape of the 

 head is formed out of several sk;ns sewed together, and 

 an entire skin, with neither the head nor tail cut off, is 

 placed overhanging, the head and bill turned in front. 

 The other kind of hat is made of five skins of the neck 

 of the Northern Diver, with a portion of the breast 

 specially prepared. 



In the plumage of the first year, when the bird is known 

 as Colymbus immer, the whole under surface is pure 

 white, shading upwards on the head and neck to greyish- 

 brown or clove-brown ; the back and wings a very dark 

 similar tint, each feather broadly margined with grey ; the 

 bill pale, except along the culmen ; the inside of the tarsi 

 and toes of a much lighter colour. The adult male, in 

 spring, or at the commencement of breeding, is a remark- 

 ably handsome bird, as follows : Bill black, paler towards 

 the tip, nearly three-quarters of an inch long, much con- 

 pressed, tapering, the upper mandible gently arched, the 

 lower one channelled beneath and deepest in the middle, 



