98 COLYMBID^. 



summer, although the nest has not as yet been found there. 

 Dr. Scouler informed him that he had seen from fifty to 

 sixty of these birds in groups of six or eight, preparing to 

 quit the coast for thrir breeding-stations ; and by the end of 

 August they are back again accompanied by their young 

 ones, little larger than a Mallard, so that their nesting- 

 places cannot be at any great distance. On the 5th of June. 

 1868, Mr. Harvie-Brown watched a pair on a loch in the 

 district of Assynt, Sutherlandshire, and although absolute 

 proof is wanting, few who read his account (Zool. s.s. 

 p. 1309) will have any doubt that the birds were breeding 

 there. It is not known with certainty that the Northern 

 Diver nests in the Orkneys ; nor is there perfectly conclu- 

 sive evidence that it does so in the Shetlands, although 

 there are substantial grounds for the supposition. The late 

 Dr. Saxby obtained eggs from Yell (accompanied by an 

 accurate description of the bird), which agreed very closely 

 with Hewitson's figure as regards their length, although two 

 of them were about a line less in breadth : dimensions far 

 exceeding those of the eggs of the Red-throated Diver, the 

 only other member of the genus ever found in those islands ; 

 for, strange as it may appear, the Black-throated Diver, 

 which occasionally lays eggs as large as those of the present 

 species, is unknown in Shetland. In July, 1879, the Editor 

 saw an adult Northern Diver in Sommer-voe, and a few 

 hours before he left Lerwick, on the 28th of that month, he 

 was assured on good authority that a very young one had 

 just been brought in alive by the small steamer which visits 

 the northern islands (Zool. 1880, p. 5). 



In Ireland the Great Northern Diver is stated by Thomp- 

 son to be a regular winter visitant to the coast, remaining 

 from five to six months, and it is occasionally met with in 

 summer."* On the 28th of May he watched an adult bird, 

 the collar round the neck and the markings on the back 

 being apparent, fishing within shot of the shore near the 

 village of Glenarm, and he timed the bird's diving, the 



* Between the 6th and 21st of last June, while these pages were in the press, 

 four adults, in full nuptial dress, were brought into Belfast. 



