BLACTv-Tn-ROATED DITER. 137 



IMr. Selhy sfiys that he has known one remain under water 

 for several minutes together, coming up at nearly a quai-ter 

 of a mile from where it had gone down, and that at the 

 rate, as he supposed, of not much under eight miles an hour. 

 On the ground it can only shuffle along for a short distance. 



The}'- feed on fish, frogs, water-insects, and portions of plants. 



The note of this bird is wild and of a melancholy sound, 

 and is heard at a great distance. 



The nest is naturally placed close by the brink of the 

 water. It is made of a few straws or stems of plants, placed 

 in a hollow formed or increased by the bird for the purpose. 



The eggs of the Black-throated Diver, usually two in 

 number, are laid on the bare earth, two or three yards from 

 the water's edge. They are of a dark yellowish olive brown 

 colour, with darker or blackish spots. 



Male; length, about two feet four inches; bill, dark bluish 

 black; it slightly turns upwards. Iris, red; forehead, dark 

 grey; crown, neck on the back, and nape, rich light ash 

 grey; the neck on its sides and lower part behind is streaked 

 lengthwise with black and white lines, giving it a raised 

 appearance; these marks are caused by white margins to the 

 feathers, wliich otherwise are black. Chin, throat, and neck 

 in front, rich dull black, the latter with a fine reflection of 

 purple and green, observable when viewed in a side light, 

 but crossed on the upper part by a collar of short striated 

 black and white lines; breast, white, the sides waved with 

 black streaks, the flanks dusky; back, nearly black with green 

 reflections; on the upper part are two long patches of square 

 white spots; spreading from near the base of each of these, 

 on either side, descend the long scapular and tertiar}^ feathers, 

 crossed, as presently mentioned, with fourteen or fifteen bars 

 of black and white. 



The wings have the axillary plume black; greater and 

 lesser wing coverts, black, with a few specks of white, the 

 tips of the feathers having a triangular-shaped mark of that 

 colour; primaries, dusky black; the tertiaries have a square 

 patch of white on each side of the shaft, by which a series 

 of bars is formed across. Tail, nearly black, the sides greenish 

 black; under tail coverts, dusky. Legs and toes, dark blackish 

 brown in front, paler on the inside with a reddish tinge. 

 Webs, pale dusky. 



This species experiences a partial moult in the spring, and 



