GREAT NORTHERN DIVER 



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Great Northern ^^^^ handsome and exclusively aquatic birds known 



Diver (Colymbus "^^ divers, or loons, are, as already mentioned, classed 



fflaeialis) ^^ some ornithologists as a separate order, although 



they are here regarded as constituting merely a 



family — the Colymbidne — of the Pygopodes. From the grebes these 



birds are broadly distinguished by their fully webbed feet, in which 



the hind-toe is situated in the same horizontal plane as the front ones ; 



and likewise by the presence of a short although distinct tail. Owing 



to the extreme backward position of their legs, grebes, like divers, 



walk with difficulty ; and the latter often merely shuffle to and from 



their nests on their breasts with the aid of their hind-limbs. Indeed, 



except to reach their nests, which are never more than a few yards 



A PAIR OF GKKAT NOKTHKKN DIVF:RS. 



{From a specimen in the British Museum. ) 



away from the margin of the water, divers never go on land at all, 

 although they are able to fly well and strongly, and make migrations 

 of considerable length. All are natives of the colder portions of the 

 northern hemisphere ; and none come farther south in winter than the 

 Mediterranean. As all the members of the group are included in 

 the single genus Colynnbiis, it will suffice to refer to the distinctive 

 characteristics of the individual species. 



The great northern diver, or loon, is the largest representative of 

 the whole group, attaining in some instances a length of as much 

 as 3 2 inches, and weighing at least as much as from 9 to 1 2 lbs. 

 As regards plumage, it is distinguished in summer by the greenish- 

 black head and neck, marked by a pair of large wedge-shaped patches 

 of white streaked with vertical black lines near the base of the neck, 



