THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER 29) 
Other names by which the Puffin is known are Sea Parrot, Coul- 
terneb, Mullet, Bottlenose ; and, in Scotland, Ailsa Parrot, Tammie- 
Norie, and Tammas. 
FAMILY COLYMBIDA 
THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER 
COLYMBUS GLACIALIS 
Bill, with the upper mandible, nearly straight, upwards of four inches in 
length ; head and neck violet-black, with a double gorget white, barred 
with black ; upper parts black, spotted with white ; under parts white ; 
bill black ; irides brown; feet dusky, the membranes whitish. Young 
very like the next, but distinguishable by their superior size and the 
direction of the bill. Length thirty-three inches. Eggs dark olive- 
brown, with a few spots of purplish brown. 
THE name Divers is, on the sea-coast, loosely applied to a tribe 
of sea-birds, including the Grebes, Cormorants, and other birds, 
which, when pursued, place their safety in diving rather than in 
flying. In works on natural history the term is, however, employed 
to designate the genus CoLymBus, and with great propriety ; for, 
however skilled any of the above birds may be in this mode of 
progression, the true divers surpass them immeasurably. First 
among these in size and dignity is the Great Northern Diver, a 
native of high latitudes in both hemispheres, never perhaps coming 
farther south than the Shetlands for breeding purposes, and 
visiting our waters only during winter.1 The Northern Diver, 
or Imber or Ember Goose, appears to be tolerably frequent in 
British waters. In Scotland it prefers saltwater lochs and sandy 
bays to the open sea, though occasionally seen some miles from 
land. It swims deep in the water, but advances rapidly. When 
in pursuit of prey it sinks beneath the surface without plunge 
orsplash, the head disappearing last, and it traverses perhaps 
two or three hundred yards of water before it rises again. 
Montagu says that it propels itself by its feet alone; Audubon, 
on the contrary, states that it uses the wings under water. The 
latter author is most probably correct, for it dives more swiftly 
than the Grebes, and these birds undoubtedly make a vigorous 
use of their wings. Where shoals of small fish, such as sand-eels 
1 Mr. Yarrell, vol. iii. p. 426, quotes Sir Thomas Browne as an authority 
for the fact that Divers formerly bred in the Broads of Norfolk. A careful 
examination of that author will show, however, that Sir Thomas Browne had 
seen only a single specimen of the Northern Diver, his ‘ Divers’, or ‘ Dive- 
fowl’, being the Crested and Lesser Grebes, etc., which, as we have seen 
above, continue to breed in the Broads. 
