The red throated diver 299 



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 



TJjll 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 birds — 

 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. A 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. 



' Vol. iii. p. 974. 



