236 GREBES AND D1\ERS 



and a smaller patch of the same de.scrii)tion below the throat ; the 

 base of the neck is striped on each side with black and white ; the 

 upper-parts show white spots on a black Ljround, these spots in the 

 region of the shoulder being large, scjuarcd, and arranged in transverse 

 rows, while on the middle of the back thc)- decrease in size, and on 

 the lower portion of thc back and the flanks arc reduced to mere dots ; 

 all the under-parts are pure white. A mottled appearance distinguishes 

 the winter-dress, the feathers of the upper-parts being dusky with broad 

 bluish-grey edges; but the lower portion of thc back is uniformly brown; 

 thc crown of the head and back of the neck arc brown with a greenish 

 sheen ; while the sides of the head as well as thc under-parts are white. 

 The birds of the }-car are coloured like their parents in thc wintcr-liver\- ; 

 and thc chick when in down is soot}' brown above and white beneath. 

 In the adult the beak is wholly black and the eye red. 



The geographical distribution of the great northern diver is some- 

 what peculiar. As its name implies, the bird is a denizen of the high 

 north, breeding in Iceland abundantl)-, and much more sparingly, it is 

 believed, on the west coast of Scandinavia. In thc Baltic, howc\er, it 

 becomes rare, and in place of extending across Russia into northern Asia, 

 as might have been expected, it is replaced to the eastward of thc 

 White Sea, or thereabouts, by thc somewhat smaller but closcK- allied 

 white-billed diver {^Colymbits adamsi), distinguished, in the adult con- 

 dition, by the feature from which it takes its name. On the other 

 hand, the species ma\' be traced westwartls from Iceland into Greenland, 

 and thus to the mainland of North America, across which it extends, 

 ranging from about the 70th degree of latitude southwards to the 

 latitude of Connecticut. To the British Isles the loon is mainly a 

 winter-visitor, chiefly frequenting the coasts, although occasionally 

 making its appearance on inland waters, and often remaining for as 

 much as five or six months. Sometimes, however, it lingers on, even 

 in thc more southerly districts, till well into the summer, adults in 

 breeding-plumage having been captured off Belfast in June ; and in 

 the Hebrides it may be seen for the greater part of the year. Although 

 a regular visitor to the Faroes, it does not appear to breed there ; and 

 there is at present no absolutely conclusive evidence that it nests any- 

 where in the British Islands, although there is a strong presumption 

 that it has once done .so in Scotland, while it is highly j^robable that it 

 may do so from time to time in the Shetlands and Orkneys. In 1903 

 it was recorded from the Island of Coll in Jul\-. In .some sea.sons these 

 divers arc unusually numerous on the British coasts, on one occasion 

 in winter .something like thirty having been seen in Plymouth Sound. 



