592 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



In these birds the legs are situated more posteriorly thau they are in any other bird. 

 This causes their walking to be painful, and obliges them, when on shore, to preserve a 

 vertical position. As, moreover, the greater part of them are bad fliers, and as many of 

 them cannot flj' at all, on account of the extreme shortness of their ■w'ings, they may be 

 considered as almost exclusively confined to the surface of the water. In consequence of 

 fliis their plumage is closer, and it often presents a smooth surface, with a silvery 

 brightness. They swim under water with the help of their wings, almost in the 

 manner of fins, They have a peculiar muscle on each side the lower larynx. 



THE GREAT KORTHEKN D1\ER.* 



This bird is about two feet and three-quarters long, with the upper parts black, spotted 

 with white ; the head and neck glossy black, with green reflexions ; the lower parts are 

 white ; the tail has twenty feathers. This species is generally distributed in the cold 

 and temperate climates of the northern hemisphere. It breeds in the Arctic region.s, 

 generally on the margin of lakes or on islands, laying three eggs of a dull olive tint, 

 spotted with dusky. 



The Xorthern Diver, the chief bird of the species, being easily scared, and instantly 

 taking refuge under water, is shot with difiiculty, but is sometimes accidentally caught 

 in nets, or by hooks at a considerable depth. Its cry has been likened to the howling 

 of dogs. Immediately under the skin there is a layer of fat, nearly an inch thick ; 

 but the flesh is considered uneatable. The skin, which is tough and covered with soft 

 down, is, in some of the northern countries, tanned and used as clothing. 



" Though this handsome bird," says Dr. Richardson, " is generally described as an 

 inhabitant of the ocean, we seldom observed it either in the Arctic Sea or Hudson's Bay ; 

 but it abounds in all the interior lakes, where it destroys vast quantities of fish. It is 

 rarely seen on land, its limbs being ill-fitted for walking, though admirably adapted to 

 its aquatic habits. It can swim with gre.at swiftness, and to a very considerable distance 

 under the water ; and when it comes to the surface, it seldom exposes more than the neck. 

 It takes wing with difficult}', flies heavily, though swiftly, and frequently in a circle 

 round those who intrude on its haunts. Its loud and very melancholy cry, like the 

 howling of the wolf, and at times like the distant screams of a man in distress, is said to 

 portend rain. Its flesh is dark, tough, and unpalatable." 



THE RED-THEOAl El) DIVER, f 



A native of the same cold climates as the other divers, it coincides also with their 

 habits. 80 constant are the male and female in tlieir attachments, that if one of them 

 be shot, the other hovers about the si^ot for days together, and will sometimes venture so 

 near the sportsman as to share the same fate. They make a howling and sometimes a 

 croaking noise, which tlic Orcadians regard as a presage of rainy or stormy weather. 

 They are seldom seen far south, except in very severe seasons ; but in winter tliey visit 

 England, France, and other countries. In the Orkneys they statedly breed. The nest, 

 which is placed in marsliy situations aniong reeds and flags, is usually composed of moss 

 and grass, lined with down from the bird's own breast. It contains two very oblong, 

 olive-brown eggs, marked with a few dusky spots. In the harbour of Stromncss this 

 species has been observed to make great havoc among the fry of the coul-lish. 



' C'olymbus Gluciulis. f Coljiiibus .Sc'iitciitiioiiulis. 



