114 COLYMBID^. 



possible that a few pairs breed on some of the numerous 

 lakes of the remote districts of Donegal. 



The Red-throated Diver breeds in the Faeroes, Iceland, 

 and Spitsbergen, and to the north of the latter Parry found 

 it as far as he went on his boat-voyage. It is abundant in 

 Norway and Sweden, especially to the north of the Arctic 

 circle, occurring in summer, according to Mr. Collett, on 

 almost every holm and islet where a sheet of water is to be 

 found, though but a few square yards in extent. It is 

 numerous in the northern parts of Russia ; breeds on Novaya 

 Zemlya ; and is generally distributed throughout Arctic 

 Siberia to the Pacific ; ranging southwards in winter to 

 Japan, China, and Formosa. It is found across Arctic and 

 sub-Arctic America, migrating as far south as Maryland in 

 winter. In Europe its migrations extend to the Mediter- 

 ranean, the Black Sea, and the Caspian ; and it is occasion- 

 ally observed on inland waters, but less frequently than its 

 congeners. Von Heuglin says that he has seen immature 

 birds on the lagoons of Lower Egypt. 



On the subject of migration Mr. Gatke, of Heligoland, 

 writes under date of the 22nd of December, 1879 : — 

 " Colymhus septentrionalis, almost by the million ; during 

 the last forty years there have never, during a single autumn, 

 been a fiftieth part of what we see now every day — all pass- 

 ing along, principally during the forenoon, east of island in 

 an E. by N. direction, which I think they continue till 

 coming to the Holstein coast, then strike oif in a northerly 

 course up to the extreme north of Jutland, and from thence 

 cross over to the Dutch coast, perhaps next morning to renew 

 the trip. There are constantly so many that one scarcely 

 can believe them always to be fresh birds" (Migration Report, 

 Zool. 1880, p. 184). 



The Red-throated Diver frequents more retired spots than 

 the Black-throated species, and prefers the shores of small 

 tarns or even pools — often at a considerable elevation — to 

 the islands of a larger loch. Sometimes there is a slight 

 nest of loose rushes and dried grass, but more frequently 

 the eggs are laid upon the bare turf, or stones, within a few 



