CHAPTER IV 



THE DIVING-BIRDS, PETRELS, AND PENGUINS 

 Orders— PYGOPODES, TUBINARES, AND IMPENNES 



The birds which form the subject of this chapter are all aquatic in 

 their habits> and feed upon fish. 



THE DIVING-BIRDS 



These are divided into two groups : Sea Divers, which are known 

 to American Naturalists as Loons, and Fresh-water Divers, or Grebes. 



The largest of the Sea Divers is the Great Northern Diver, 

 Plate II. fig. I. This bird, which is a winter visitant to Great Britain, 

 breeds in Iceland, Greenland, and the Fur Countries, as far west as 

 the Great Slave Lake. It lays but two eggs, and as a nest-builder is 

 by no means skilled. 



In the British Islands the Great Northern Diver is far less common 

 than the Red- and Black-throated Divers, which breed annually on 

 many of the lochs of Scotland. In Ireland the Black-throated Diver 

 is rarely met with, and the Red-throated only occasionally breeds 

 there. 



Though these birds are commonly called Sea Divers, it must be 

 remarked that they show a great preference for fresh water. Here 

 they breed, and here they pass the summer months. During the 

 winter, however, they retreat to the sea, and there disperse themselves 

 all along our coasts. This migration is probably due to the necessity 

 of keeping to open water, for, being entirely dependent on fish for 

 their subsistence, severe frosts immediately cut off their supplies of 

 fresh-water fishes in their chosen haunts. 



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