GREAT NORTHERN DIVER 505 
The eggs are laid about the middle of June and are two 
in number ; in colour they are olivaceous shading to russet- 
brown with a few dark brown spots. 
Geographical distribution.— As a breeding-species the 
Great Northern Diver resorts chiefly to the New World 
and is widely distributed over the colder regions of North 
America. It nests from Greenland westward across Nor- 
thern Canada to Alaska. In the north-west of Canada it 
meets with its ally the White-billed Diver, while the latter 
extends its range eastward to Arctic Asia. Iceland seems 
to be the eastern limit and the only European country 
where our bird nests; yet it is interesting to note that 
adults have been observed about North Scotland throughout 
the summer, and there are grounds for supposing that this 
species may breed in the Northern Scottish Isles. 
Two specimens were obtained in Europe under remark- 
ably interesting circumstances, as recorded by Prof. 
Newton (Dict. Birds, p. 153). Each bird was previously 
wounded by a weapon of supposed Trans-Atlantic origin. 
One had “an arrow headed with copper, sticking through 
its neck,’ and was shot on the Irish coast (Thompson, 
Nat. Hist. Irel., 11, p. 201). The other was found dead in 
Kalbaksfjord in the Faroes, with an iron-tipped bone dart, 
fast under its wing (Herr H. C. Miiller, Medd. Nat. 
Forening, 1862, p. 35). 
In winter the Great Northern Diver wanders along the 
Atlantic sea-board as far south as Central America, spread- 
ing eastward to North-western Europe, the Mediterranean 
and Black Seas. Further eastward, it is represented by 
C. adamst. Numbers find their way to large sheets of fresh 
water in the interior of the North American and E Juropean 
Continents. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. — Head, satin-black ; 
upper neck and throat, satin-black glossed with purple ; 
lower neck, black, glossed with green; the dark ground- 
colour of the neck is interrupted by two semi- circular 
bands, each composed of a series of short vertical white 
stripes ; twelve of these may be counted in the upper band, 
eighteen in the lower; back, scapulars, and upper surface 
of the wings, black, conspicuously marked with white spots 
arranged in belts ; ; primaries and tail, brownish-black faintly 
