52 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



lake is nearly dried up" Local and other names 

 Speckled Loon, Luinme, Northern Douker. Does 

 not sit closely. 



DIVER, RED-THROATED. 



Description of Parent Birds. Length about 

 twenty-four inches. Bill rather long, straight, 

 sharp-pointed, and bluish horn-colour. Irides red. 

 Face and crown ash-grey, nape nearly black, with 

 short perpendicular white lines on it. Back, 

 wings, and upper tail-coverts almost black, spotted 

 with white, except wing-quills, which are uniform 

 black. Chin, cheeks, and sides of neck ash-grey, 

 mixed with lines and spots of a lighter tinge. On 

 the upper part of the neck in front is a conical 

 patch of chestnut-red. Breast, belly, vent, and 

 under tail-coverts white ; sides greyish-black, spotted 

 with white. Legs, toes, and w r ebs dark brown on 

 the outside and lighter within. 



The female is somewhat smaller in size than 

 the male. 



Situation and Locality. On the turf or amongst 

 stones and shingle close to the edges of lonely 

 moorland and mountain pools, tarns, or lakes; by 

 preference on a small island in any of the above 

 sheets of water, on the northern and western main- 

 land, and the islands off those coasts of Scotland. 

 The bird is also said to breed in the west of 

 Ireland. Our illustration was procured in the outer 

 Hebrides. 



Materials. Loose rushes and dry grass, very 

 often nothing at all. 



Eggs. Two. Olive, or deep greenish-brown in 

 ground colour, spotted with blackish-brown. Size 

 about 2-8 by 1-8 in. 



