BLACK-THROATED DIVER 509 
inland in the following counties:—Queen’s Co., Meath, 
Roscommon, and once or twice on Lough Neagh (Ussher). 
Flight.—This species can move rapidly at a considerable 
height in the air, and at times, when in pursuit of fish, 
will shoot downwards with almost the speed of a Gannet ; 
but its diving-powers are no less remarkable than those of 
its congeners, aud it generally escapes danger by travelling 
under rather than over water. 
Votce.—The cry, harsh and unmusical, may be heard a 
long way off, and is uttered during flight and when the bird 
1s resting on the water. 
Food.—F ish, many of which are captured at a consider- 
able depth below the surface, form the main diet, but crabs 
and shell-fish are also eaten. 
Nest.—The nest is usually situated near the water’s edge, 
generally on a small island of a fresh-water lake. A shallow 
depression in the ground amid grass and coarse herbage 
accommodates the two eggs. Floating nests supported by 
aquatic plants have been observed. 
The eggs are olive-green shading to brown in colour, 
and thinly spotted with black or very ‘dark brown. 
Incubation is slow, lasting twenty-eight days. 
The Black-throated Diver breeds in many counties of 
Scotland, especially in the north-western section. The nest 
has been recorded from Caithness, Sutherland, Inverness- 
shire, Perthshire, Ross, Argyll, several of the Outer He- 
brides, the Orkneys, and more recently from the Shetlands. 
Geographical distribution. —Abroad, it breeds abun- 
dantly in Northern Europe (from Sianeli eastward), 
Northern Asia over Siberia to the Pacific, and in the 
Mastern section of Arctic America. In winter it migrates 
southward over Hurope, visiting the coasts and inland 
waters of that Continent, also the Mediterranean, Black, 
and Caspian Seas, and extending eastward to Japan. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—Top of head and back 
of neck, ash-grey; back and scapulars, blackish, marked 
with wide white quadrate spots; wing-coverts, spotted with 
white ; chin and throat, sooty- black ; frome of neck, purplish- 
black, interrupted by a half collar of short white streaks ; 
primaries and tail, black; sides of neck, barred with black 
