COLYMBID.& 



COLYMBII' i: 



and the Mcood OB the Brazilian water* (Rio Grande 



I (Leeaon) may be taken as an example. Thia Grebe, 

 M Leam. U remarkabl* for the delicate tinU of it* 

 7 which U slate-gray (gri* ardottf) above and of a satiny white 

 Uow." The cheek, and foreoead are of a light gray ; a bundle of 

 looee plomee (plnme* efllUe*) spring* behind each eye, and is pro- 

 id backward, and on the aide, of the neck. A calotte of deep 

 : it*** from the occiput, and i. prolonged on the posterior part of 

 ok half-way down it The throat is of a pearled-gray, which 

 i lighter, ao that the front of the neck and the aides are of a 

 i white, a* well a* the reat of the lower part of the body. The 

 t and wing* are of a deeper late-colour, and this tint, mingled 

 however with white, prevail* on the feather* of the rump. The Ursi, 

 torn, and the eoaatdetably large membrane* which fringe them, are 

 a,ieeih. The bill U ihort and black. The iris i* of a moat lively 

 red, ao brilliant a* to call forth from Pere Dom Pernetty, whoee Petit 

 Plongeon a Lunette, it U, the expression that " diamond* and rubies 

 have nothing to ofler equal to the fire of the eye* of a species df 

 Plongeon which is frequently found on the edge of the sea." The 

 total length of this Grebe is 1 1 inches and 2 or 3 lines ; from the 

 1 to the point of the bill, 8 lines; tarsi, 17 line*; external toe, 



The British *pecie* of this genus given by Yarroll in his ' British 

 Bird*,' are P. crura/w, the Great-Crested or Great-Tippet Grebe ; 

 P. raencnOu, the Red Necked Grebe ; P. ronutfiu, the Sclavonian, 

 Dtuky. or Horned Grebe ; P. am-i/w, the Eared Grebe ; and P. minor, 

 the Little or Black-Chin Grebe, Dabchick, and Didapper. 



CWyaU**. It is the Mrryut of Briaaon ; Urinator, Laco"pcde ; and 

 JtWyte, Illiger. Bill moderate, strong, straight, very much pointed, 

 enmiweeed ; noatrib concave, half closed. Wing* short ; the first 

 quill the longest Tail short, rounded. Three front toes very long, 

 entirely palmated ; hind toe bordered with a small supple membrane. 



The Diren bear a doae resemblance to the Grebes, from which 

 they dinVr bat little, excepting in their palmated feet On the water 

 they are at their eaae : on land, they, as well as the Grebes, are awk- 

 ward and beset with difficulties in their locomotion. 



They principally inhabit the northern latitudes, where they nestle 

 In the wildcat and moat desert spot*. In the ' Table* ' in ' Fauna 

 Boreeli- Americana,' we find C. glacialit and C. teplentrionalii in the 

 Ha* of species which merely winter in Pennsylvania ar.d migrate in 

 aammar to rear their young in the Fur Countries, and C. rptentrionn- 

 lit in the list of bird* (migratory) detected on the North Georgian 

 Wand* and adjoining aeas (Ut 73 to 75 north), on Sir Edward 

 Parry'* Brat voyage. C. glacialii and C. trptenlrionalit occur in 

 Babine's list of Greenland Bird* ; and C. fflaeialtu, C. orrtiow, and 

 C. rftmrionaJu in Sir John Richardson's list of specie* common to 

 the Old World and to the Fur Countries. 



Catenate, the Great Northern Diver. Head, neck, and upper tail- 

 enverta gloaetd with deep purplish-green on a black ground. A short 

 tra nevus* bar on the throat, a collar on the middle of the neck, inter- 



rrr (CWjmhu f lacili,\. 



****. b '* e 5- w b' upper plumage, wing*, side* of the 

 Uil-ooT.ru, black ; all, except the quill* and 



tail, marked with a pair of white ipot* near the tip of each feather : 

 the ipota form rows, and are large and quadrangular on the scapular* 

 and interecapulan, round and smaller elsewhere; imallest on the rump. 

 I'n.l.T plumage and inner wing-coverts white, the axillaries striped 

 down th.-ir middles with black. Irides brown. Bill compressed, 

 strong, tapering; its rictus quite straight; its contour very si 

 arched above ; Tower mandible channeled beneath, appearing deepest 

 in the middle ; it* gonys sloping upwards to the point ; margins of 

 both mandibles, but particularly of the lower one, inflected, 

 wing-coverta very long. Tail, of twenty feathers, much rounded. Total 

 length 36 inches ; extent of wing 48 inches. Sir John Richardson, whose 

 description this is, observes, that specimens in mature plumage vary 

 considerably in total length, upwards of an inch in length of wing, 

 and more than half an inch in the length of the tarsus. 



The young of the year differ considerably from the <>M bird*. The 

 i head of the young, the occiput, and the whole posterior part .if the 

 neck are of an ashy-brown ; on the cheek i are small ashy anil white 

 pointo ; throat, front of the neck, and other lower parts, pure white ; 

 feathers of the back, of the wings, of the rump and flanks, of a very 

 deep brown in the middle, bordered and terminated by bluish-ash ; 

 upper mandible ashy-gray, lower mandible whitish; iris browi. 

 externally deep brown ; internally, as well as the membranes, whit i-.li. 

 In this state Temminck says that the bird is the Colymbia Jmmer, 

 (Gmelin, ' Syst. Lath. Ind.') ; Le Grand Plongeon of Buffon (but the 

 plate enl. 914 represents a young individual of Colymbiu arelicta) ; 

 Mergo Maggiore o Sraergo (' Stor. deg. Ucc.'), with a good figure. He 

 thinks that the Imber Taucher of Bechstein (' Naturg. Dent') is pro- 

 bably a young of this species on account of its large dimen-.ii.ns. an.) 

 remarks that under the name of C. Immrr the young of this q 

 are often confounded with those of C. arclicut. 



At the age of a year, according to the same author, the individual* 

 of both sexes show a transverse blackish-brown band towards the 

 middle of the neck, about an inch in length, forming a kind of collar ; 

 the feathers of the back become of a blackish tint, and the small white 

 blotches begin to appear. In this state it is the Grand Plongeon of 

 Brisaon (vol. vi. p. 105, pL 10, f. 1), a very exact figure. 



At the age of two years the collar is more defined : this part, the 

 head, and the neck are varied with brown and greenish-black feathers ; 

 the numerous blotches on the back and wings become more prevalent, 

 and the band under the throat, and the nuchal collar also, are marked 

 with longitudinal brown and white lines. 



At the age of three years the plumage is perfect 

 According to Montagu, Colymbia glatialii is the Colymlut marimut 

 caiulaitu of Ray ; Mcrffiu major tumtu and Mergut rurviiu of Br: 

 L'lmbrim of Buffon ; Greatest Speckled Diver or Loon of Willughby ; 

 and Northern Diver of Pennant (' Brit. Zoo].') : and the female is 

 Colymbtu Immrr of Linmeus ; Colymbiu maximut Getneri of Ray; 

 Mtrytu major of Brisson ; Le Grand Plongeon of Buffon ; Ember 

 Gooee of Sibbald ; and Imber Diver of the British Zoology. It is the 

 Colymbiu torquatut of Brunnich ; the Schwarzhalsiger See-Tfturlier, 

 Eis-Taucher, Groase Halb-Ente, and Meer-Noering, of the Germans ; 

 Bruaen of the Norwegians ; Turlik of the Greenlanders ; Eithinnew- 

 Moqua of the Cree Indians; Talkyeh of the Chipewyans; Kagloolek 

 of the Esquimaux ; Inland Loon of the Hudson's Bay residents ; and 

 Trochydd Mawr of the Welsh : it is provincially called by the British 

 i limner and Greater Doucker. 



Fish is the principal food of this specie*, and the herring in par- 

 ticular; the fry .if tih, crustaceans, and marine vegetables. It nestles 

 in small islands and on the banks of fresh waters, and the female lays 

 two eggs of an Isabella-white, marked with very large anil with mnall 

 spots of a purplish-ash. Sir John Richardson gives the following 

 description of its manners : " Though this handsome bird is gene- 

 rally described as an inhabitant of the ocean, we seldom observed it 

 cither in the Arctic .Sea or Hudson's Bay ; but it abounds in all the 

 interior lakes, where it destroys vast quantities of fish. It is rarely 

 seen on land, its limb* being ill fitted for walking, though admirably 

 adapted to its aquatic habits. It can swim with great swiftnetw. anil 

 to a very considerable distance under the water; and when it comes 

 to the surface, it seldom exposes more than the neck. It takes wing 

 with difficulty, flies heavily, though swiftly, and frequently in a circle 

 round those who intrude on it* haunt*. Its loud and very melancholy 

 cry, like the howling of the wolf, and at times like the distant P. - 

 of a man in distress, is said to portend rain. Its flesh is dark, tough, 

 and unpalatable. We caught several of these birds in the fishing- 

 net*, in which they had entangled themselves in the pursuit of fi-li." 

 The species is sometimes taken even in the south of England. Montagu 

 . one which was kept in a pond for some months. In a few 

 days it became extremely docile, would come to the call from one 

 side of the pond to the other, and would take food from the hand. 

 The bird had received an injury in the head, which had depriv 

 ye of its sight, and the other wa a little inip:iir<-.1 ; l"it, notwith- 

 standing, it could, by incessantly diving, discover all the fish that 

 were thrown int.) the pond. When it could not get fish it would eat 

 fleah ; ami when it quitted the water, it shoved its body along upon 

 the ground like a seal, by jerks, rubbing the breast against the 

 ground ; and returned again to the water in a similar manner. In 

 Iwimmmg and diving the legs only wi-re iw.l, and not the wings, and 

 by their situation so far behind, and their little deviation from the 



