504 COLYMBIDAS 
Auks which invariably do so, and the Cormorants which shoot 
through the water with closed wings. Unlike the latter the 
Great Northern Diver when swimming on the surface, does 
not carry its neck erect with head and beak pointed up- 
wards, on the contrary, as already mentioned, the neck is 
held out almost horizontally, while the beak nearly touches 
the surface of the sea. In this way the two species can be 
identified even at a moderate distance. 
On land it progresses with an awkward and shuffling 
gait. Sir R. Payne-Gallwey, who kept one alive (uninjured) 
on a yacht for a week, describes its movements. “The bird 
could move about as it hked, yet never attempted to fly, 
but slid along on its breast, with its wings beating the 
deck and its legs working as if in the act of swimming. 
It became fairly tame, and bolted salted herrings whole, 
but its mournful cries at night disturbed the sleep of all 
on board, and I gladly returned the bird to its natural 
element” (‘Letters to Young Shooters,’ Third Series, 
pp. 195-6). 
Flight. —Though moderately swift and powerful when 
once started on the wing, this bird confines itself mainly 
to the water and depends largely on its diving-capacities 
to elude observation. It generally manages to get out of 
shallow water by floundering over the surface in an excited 
manner, but when once stranded on dry land it appears 
unable to rise. 
Voice.—The voice varies from a melancholy howl to a 
shrill startling blast or trumpet-like note. It sounds like 
gulli-gulli-a-60-00, which shortens to érd-00-00, or tli-da-dw. 
A low croak is also heard at times. 
_ Food.—The main diet consists of fish, including small 
plaice, flounders, dabs, and other flat-fish.1 For these the 
bird dives to a great depth, and has been captured in nets 
many fathoms below the surface. Crabs and shell-fish are 
also eaten, as well as small fry picked from the surface. 
Nest.—The nest is formed on the ground, on a small 
island or near the edge of a lake, amid coarse herbage such 
as sedges and rushes; in some localities it 1s more openly 
situated, being a mere hollow in the dry ground. It is 
always quite close to water, and a beaten track is usually 
present, made by the bird on its passage to and fro. 
' In smooth shallow channels and creeks I have noticed this species 
searching apparently for flat-fish on the sandy sea-floor. 
