464 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



creeks and identations in its sides, the Black- 

 throated Diver mav sometimes be seen swimming, 

 now and again bending its slender neck and grace- 

 fully dipping its bill in the water. As the boat 

 draws slowly nearer, the bird makes no effort to 

 rise, nor, indeed, to increase the distance between 

 the enemy and itself. It merely sinks lower and 

 lower into the water until nothing is visible save 

 the lithe neck and dart-like head and bill, and in 

 a moment more, without any perceptible splash, 

 these, too, disappear. The face of the loch is like 

 a mirror, but one may look long before the low- 

 lying dark form appears again far off on the 

 surface. 



Upon the island the Black-throat nests, and one 

 may trace the track through the crushed herbage to 

 the place where the two olive-brown and black 

 spotted eggs are laid. The conformation of these 

 true water-birds is such that their progression on 

 land is a slow and awkward process, and w^hen 

 approaching or leaving the nest they must fain 

 propel themselves, seal-like, through the grass with 

 breasts resting on the ground. 



But even if the Black-throat is looked for in 

 vain, a sight of the Red-throat may be constantly 

 gained, especially about the smaller lochs hidden 

 in the folds of the hills. Wonderful fishers are 

 they, not keeping to their own domain, but know- 

 ing well the resources of every sheet of water in 

 the locality for many miles around. To a suitable 

 feeding-place they will come every day with the 

 most marked punctuality. One day I watched a 

 pair of Red-throats arrive at the loch from some 



