28o OUR RARER BIRDS 



The Black-tliroated Diver {Colymhus ardicus) is a much 

 rarer species than the foregoing, and only breeds sparingly in 

 a few parts of the Highlands and the Western Isles. In 

 its habits, food, note, and manner of nesting it differs little 

 from its congeners. It makes rather a more substantial nest, 

 either a floating structure like a Grebe's, or a hollow at some 

 distance from the water's edge, neatly lined with bits of dead 

 herbage. It lays two eggs, similar to those of its ally, but 

 rather darker and browner in ground colour, and less profusely 

 spotted. Both these species of Diver wander far and wide 

 during winter, and then visit our southern seas in quest of 

 food, becoming much more oceanic in their habits at that 

 season. The Black-throated Diver is readily distinguished 

 by its purplish-black throat, which in the former bird is 

 reddish- chestnut. 



