of the District of Montreal. 405 



compressed ; anterior toes wholly palmated ; hind toe small, bare- 

 ly touching the ground ; wings moderate, small and acuminate : 

 1st and 2nd primaries longest; tail short, composed of 12 or 10 

 feathers. This genus appears to be the last of a connecting link 

 between the true palmipedes and those whose toes are free. 

 Their acuminate bill approximates them to the latter, while their 

 really webbed feet induces us to classify them among the former. 

 In general systematic works they have obtained a station after the 

 I>uck tribe ; unjustly so; Cuvier's arrangement is decidedly the 

 best, ranking them in their present position, which I have adopted. 



C. Septemtrionalis. Red throated Diver. 



C. striatus ) 



C. stellatus > Young bird in its different states. 



C. Itorealis ) 



C. Septemtrionalis. Baird ! 



v.s.p. Bill black ; tip brown colour ; legs and feet blackish 

 green ; irides red ; eggs 2, of a pale oil green colour. 



Dorsal aspect. Crown of head, cheeks and sides of neck lead 

 colour, approaching to black in the centre of the crown ; a stripe 

 along the back of the neck, branching off" to the sides of the neck, 

 black streaked with white ; interscapulary region and scapulars 

 black, with a couple of faint white spots on the tip of each feather ; 

 rump and tail black ; great and small wing coverts brownish 

 black ; primaries and secondaries black, tipped with green brown 

 and white on the inner borders at the base. 



Ventral aspect. Chin lead colour ; throat with a mesial line 

 of deep purplish red ; breast, belly, vent and tail coverts white ; 

 sides of flanks streaked with black ; inner wing linings white. 



1st primary longest ; scapulars short; length 31 inches; alar 

 expanse 37 inches ; length of bill from the rictus 3 inches 1 line ; 

 the lower mandible is navicular ; the upper one is about a line 

 longer than the lower ; the ridge of the upper mandible is inclined 

 to yellowish brown in the specimen before me, and an irregular 

 streak of white runs along the side of the lower one. 



A female shot in the Lachine rapids in the spring of 1837 and 

 in my possession has the following distinctive characters : 



Dorsal aspect. Crown, nape of neck cinereous ; dorsal region 

 including the scapulars dark ash colour with a couple of white 

 streaks on the tip of each feather, giving this region a crossed or 

 zigzag appearance ; rump and tail blackish ash ; primaries black, as 



