THE DIVER. 107 



in Shetland, nor is it met with in Orkney, and much 

 to our disappointment and surprise it was only once 

 that we got a sight of it during the whole of our 

 journey round the Norwegian coast." 



The black-throated diver is a much smaller species 

 than the great northern diver, its length is from 2 

 to 2\ feet, and the expanse of wings 3 feet 

 to 3 feet 8 inches ; its form is more slender than 

 that of the great northern diver. There is a stripe 

 along the fore -neck and the side of the neck, the 

 scapulars and covert feathers are spotted white, 

 the back and tail are black, the head gray, the 

 feet are dull brown, and the under part white. In 

 the young, as in the great northern diver, the full 

 colours do not appear for three years, brown pre- 

 dominating until the second year, when the head be- 

 comes gray and the black marks appear ; in the third 

 year the white and black marks are seen on the 

 various parts. The birds in all these stages seen 

 together have been mistaken for different species. Its 

 habits much resemble those of the great northern diver. 



The Red-throated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis) 

 has the sides of the head and throat of an ashy-red, 

 or mouse-colour, the crown is marked with black 

 spots, long white and black stripes and a band of 

 chestnut-red are on the neck, the breast and lower 

 parts are white. The back is blackish-brown on the 

 old birds, but in those of three or four years there are 

 small white spots on the brown. The bill is black, 

 the iris is brown-orange, the feet are outwardly dark 

 green, underneath they are of a livid white. The 

 length is 23 or 24 inches. 



