EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 77 



FAMILY COLYMBIDJE, 



OB DIVERS. 



Of the four species of Diver on the British List, two species, 

 and probably three, nest within our limits, the White-billed 

 Diver being only an occasional visitor. 



THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 

 (Golymbus glacial is.) 



Plate 21, Fig. 3. 



The Great Northern Diver may possibly breed in some of the 

 wild secluded lochs of the West of Scotland, the Outer Hebrides, 

 the Orkneys, and the Shetlands, and little doubt is now enter- 

 tained as to its having nested in the latter group. It breeds in 

 Iceland and in Southern Greenland, as well as in the Fur 

 countries of North America, below the Arctic circle. 



The nest is very clumsily made and often very slight : it is 

 composed of dead grass and decayed water-plants. Two is the 

 usual number of eggs, and it is doubtful if any more are laid. 

 They vary in colour from olive-brown to russet-brown, and are 

 somewhat sparingly spotted with black. The spots vary in size 

 from that of a pea downwards, and are generally most numerous 

 round the large end. The underlying spots are paler and are 

 not very numerous. The eggs vary in length from 3'8 to 34 

 inches, and in breadth from 2'4 to '21 inches. 



THE WHITE-BILLED DIVER. 



(Colymbus aclamsi.) 



The present species extends from Scandinavia throughout the 

 Arctic regions to Bering Sea and Alaska, as far as the Great 

 Slave Lake in North America. It has twice been noticed in 

 Great Britain, and doubtless other examples have occurred, but 

 have been confounded with the preceding species. 



