THE RED-THROATED DIVER 2906 
propelled by her legs behind. In the breeding season the old 
birds are often seen on the wing, at which time also they have 
a peculiar and loud cry, which has been compared to the voice of a 
human being in distress. 
THE RED-THROATED DIVER 
COLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS 
Bill slightly curved upwards, with the edges of both mandibles much incurved, 
not exceeding three inches in length ; head, throat, and sides of the neck 
mouse-colour ; crown spotted with black; neck both above and below 
marked with white and black lines ; on the front of the neck a large orange- 
coloured patch ; back dusky brown ; lower parts white. Young bivds— 
upper plumage mouse-colour, darker on the back, where it is marked 
by longitudinal white lines ; wings dusky ; feathers on the flanks dusky, 
some of them edged with white; all the under plumage pure white 
Length twenty-six inches. Eggs chestnut-brown, spotted with darker 
brown. 
THE name ‘Loon,’ given in some districts to the Crested Grebe, is 
elsewhere given to the Red-Throated Diver. The term is an old 
one, for our countrymen, Ray and Willughby, quoting yet more 
ancient authorities, describe the Northern Diver under the name 
of ‘Loon’,and the Black-Throated Diver under that of ‘Lumme’, 
the latter being the name of the bird in Iceland and Norway, and 
the former probably an English corruption of the same word, which 
in the original signifies ‘lame’. 
On no part of our coast must we expect to hear this bird popularly 
called by the name of ‘Red-Throated’, for, though common on 
many parts of the coast, almost all the specimens observed are: 
young birds of the year, which have the throat pure white. Several 
were brought to me by the seaside gunners on the coast of Norfolk. 
In May birds with red throats are noticed. Aj writer in the 
Zoologist! says that they are very numerous in winter off the 
coast of the Isle of Wight, passing and repassing in small flocks 
and in two lines about a mile apart. Of the hundreds which fell 
under his notice one only had a red throat, and this was captured 
under singular circumstances. On April 24, 1839, some fishermen 
observed an object floating which they imagined was a keg of 
spirits, but which proved to be a large fish of the kind known as 
the Fishing Frog, or Angler. On hauling it on board with their 
boat-hooks, the fishermen discovered that the animal had nearly 
choked himself by swallowing, tail foremost, an adult Red-throated 
Diver. The head of the bird protruded from the throat into the 
mouth of the captor, and, strange to say, it had not only survived 
its imprisonment, but was unhurt. It was extricated and pre- 
sented to the Zoological Gardens, where it lived for six months. 
1 Vol. iii. p. 974. 
