COLYMBID.t 



6c,. 



THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 



CoLV.MBUS cLACiALis, Linnaius. 



This fine bird (sometimes called the Immer- or Ember-Goose) is 

 the largest of the three Divers which are of regular occurrence in 

 British waters. The young generally come close to the shore, and 

 are therefore more frequently obtained on our estuaries and in our 

 narrow seas than the adults ; though these are occasionally abundant 

 off South Devon and Cornwall, as well as in the Irish Channel and 

 along the west of Scotland, even as late as the month of June. 

 From the north-west of the latter, indeed, they are seldom long 

 absent, and there are substantial grounds for believing that a few 

 pairs have bred in the Shetlands ; Saxby having seen the bird in 

 summer on a loch in Yell, whence he obtained eggs which could not 

 — from their size — be those of any other species : the Black-throated 

 Diver being as yet unknown in that group. On July 19th 1879 an 

 adult flew past my boat in Sulemvoe, almost within gunshot ; 



