298 COLYMBUS ARCTICUS. 



only be distinguished from the male by a sliglit inferiority of 

 size, and both were in the finest adult or summer plumage. 

 We afterwards saw several pairs, upon various lochs, and 

 upon Loch Kay a pair attended by two young ones, nearly 

 half-grown. AVhen swimming, they are in the constant habit 

 of dipping their bill in the water, with a graceful motion of 

 the head and neck." 



It is said to be of extremely rare occurrence in Shetland. 

 Mr. Dunn says he never saw it there, although there is no 

 doubt of its visiting occasionally. It is, he says, extremely 

 rare in Orkney ; but Messrs. Baikie and Heddle give a dif- 

 ferent statement : — " This bird, in its perfect, and in its 

 immature state, though not uncommon, is by no means so 

 abundant as the Great Northern Diver. By some it is stated 

 to be exceedingly rare, but within the last few years it has 

 been shot at South Ronaldshay, at Scapa, at Kirkwall, at 

 Sanday, &c. It is very shy. A few remain with us the 

 whole year." In the Hebrides it has escaped my notice ; but 

 Mr. John MacGillivray, who visited some of them in 1840, 

 says : — " Colyryihus arcticus, Black-throated Diver, was ascer- 

 tained to breed in North Uist. I did not, however, find its 

 nest, but mention the fact upon the authority of several of 

 my friends who did so, and know the species well — among 

 others, Lieutenant Macdonald, of North Uist." Mr. Thomas 

 Jamieson, in his Notes on the Birds of Skye, writes : — " I 

 saw an individual of this species, in the adult plumage, on 

 the morning of the 24th September, when down by the sea- 

 shore. I am not aware of their occurrence in Skye during 

 summer, but have reason to think that they breed on the 

 opposite shore of the Long Island. Divers, I was informed 

 by those who have shot them, occur in greatest numbers 

 along the coast of Skye in the beginning of spring." 



In the Cromarty Firth it is not very uncommon in winter ; 

 in the estuaries of the South Esk and Tay it is also met with, 

 and a few are to be seen in the Firth of Forth ; but farther 

 southward it becomes very rare, although individuals have 

 been shot on many parts of the coasts of England. 



It is said to breed in Norway, Sweden, Lapland, and the 

 extreme north of Europe generally, and in winter to extend 



