1 86 Allen's naturalist's library. 



throat equally streaked with black and white, the black streaks 

 very broad and extending to the sides of the neck ; remainder 

 of under surface of body from the fore-neck downwards pure 

 white ; the sides of the fore-neck and chest narrowly streaked 

 with black and white; sides of the body glossy-black, the 

 longer under tail-coverts black with white tips; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries white, the outer lower primary-coverts 

 externally ashy ; bills black ; feet blackish ; iris crimson. 

 Total length, 22*0 inches; culmen, 2*2; wing, ii*8; tail, 2'i ; 

 tarsus, 2*9. 



Adult Female. — Similar to the male. Total length, 21-0 

 inches ; wing, 11 "5. 



Winter Plumage. — Similar to that of the Great Northern 

 Diver, but distinguished by the much smaller bill. 



Range in Great Britain. — The Black-throated Diver breeds in 

 the north of Scotland and in the Orkneys, but is not known 

 from the Shetlands. It nests not uncommonly in Sutherland- 

 shire and Caithness, and breeds also in the lochs of Inverness- 

 shire, Perthshire, Ross, and Argyll, as well as in many of the 

 Outer Hebrides (cf. Saunders' Manual, p. 698). In winter 

 it visits all the coasts of the British Islands, but is rarer 

 than the other species of Diver, and mostly young birds are 

 procured. 



Range outside the British Islands. — The present species has a 

 circumpolar distribution during the breeding season, nesting 

 in the northern areas of both hemispheres, and migrating 

 south in winter to the inland waters of Europe and the 

 Mediterranean and in the east to Japan. At the last-named 

 season it also extends its range to the Northern United 

 States. It is not as yet known to occur in Greenland or 

 Iceland. 



Habits. — During the breeding season the Black-throated 

 Diver frequents lochs and inland waters. In Norway it is by 

 no means uncommon on the lakes of the higher fjelds, but 

 the bird is not much in evidence during the day-time, though 

 in the very early morning they were seen at Alfheim (1896) 

 close to the house, swimming about in the lake, and making 

 a considerable cackling. In the evening, as the days began 



