io8 OUR RESIDENT BIRDS 



Habits. Generally like the Great Skua, but it is 

 gregarious. 



Food. Fish, either caught by itself or robbed from 

 other Gulls. Also preys on wounded birds. 



Nest. May or June. One brood. 



Site. Like the great Skua. 



Materials. Like the Great Skua. 



Eggs. Two. Olive-brown or russet-brown, spotted 

 and blotched with dark brown and grey. 



BLACK-THROATED DIVER (Colymbus arcticus). 



Resident only in northern districts. The rarest of the 

 Divers which visit our coasts in winter. It breeds 

 sparingly in outer Hebrides and some parts of the west 

 coast of Scotland. 



Plumage. Crown and nape ash-grey. Upper parts 

 blackish, barred and spotted with white. Throat pur- 

 plish black, with half collar of white streaks. Sides of 

 neck striped with black and white ; under parts white. 

 Bill black. Legs and feet brown. Length 26 in. 

 Female similar, but rather smaller. In winter, plumage 

 above chiefly ash-brown ; throat and under parts white. 

 Young : much like adults in winter plumage ; young in 

 down blackish brown above, and greyish brown below. 



Language. A loud, discordant cry. 



Habits. Admirably equipped for aquatic life. It 

 swims and dives expertly. It flies well when occasion 

 demands. It comes to land only to breed, where it is 

 extremely awkward owing to the very backward position 

 of the legs. 



Food. Fish. 



Nest. May. One brood. 



Site. On an islet or at margin of lake. 



Materials. Aquatic herbage untidily heaped together. 



Eggs. Two, dark olive-brown thinly spotted with 

 brown and black. 



