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170 BIRD GALLERY. 
and subsequently brought to the surface and swallowed. The nest, a 
hollow in the ground with little or no lining, is generally situated close 
to the water’s edge, either on a grass-grown island or (as in the present 
instance) on the mainland. Two large olive-brown eggs, spotted with 
black, are laid in May. 
Sutherlandshire, June. 
Presented by Colonel L. H. Irby & Captain 8. G. Reid. 
No. 90. RED-THROATED DIVER. 
(Colymbus septentrionalis.) 
Though adults with the white throat characteristic of winter plumage 
are commonly met with on all our coasts from autumn to spring, the 
© Rain-Goose,” as it is often called, is only known to breed, as regards the 
British Islands, in the north of Ireland and in parts of Scotland and the 
adjacent islands. The plumage of the sexes is similar, but the female 
is somewhat smaller than the male. When nesting, this species, unlike 
the Black-throated Diver, prefers the small lochs and pools, and is 
seldom found on the larger lochs, except when in search of fish, on which 
it chiefly feeds. Little or no nest is made, and the two large olive-brown 
eggs, spotted with dark brown, are placed on the bare and often wet 
ground close to the water’s edge. The male shares the duties of 
incubation. 
Sutherlandshire, May. 
Presented by G. A. St. Quintin & IV. R. Ogilvie-Grant, Esqrs. 
No. 91. WATER-RAIL. (Rallus aquaticus.) 
This species may be regarded as a resident in the marshy districts 
of the British Islands, for though some of our native birds move south- 
ward in autumn, their place is taken by others from the Continent 
Worms, molluscs, and aquatic plants form its principal food. The 
nest, made of flat leaves of reeds and sedges, is well concealed among 
rushes or coarse herbage. The eggs, from seven to eleven in number, 
are pale creamy-white spotted with reddish-brown and ash-grey. The 
young, when first hatched, are covered with black down. Two broods 
are produced in a season. 
Co. Waterford, April. 
Presented by R. J. Ussher, Esq. 
No. 92. LAND-RAIL or CORN-CRAKE. (Crex crex.) 
This well-known visitor arrives in the south of England about the 
aud of April and, as a rule, takes its departure before the end of 
