The Great Northern Diver. 



397 



THE GKEAT NORTHERN DIVER. 



(Cotymbus glacialis.) 



THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER is found most abundantly in 

 the Arctic seas, but a considerable number of them dwell 

 on the shores of Scotland. It has a rather long, strong, 

 and sharply pointed bill ; its back and wings are black, 

 ornamented with numerous white spots; its lower 

 surface is greyish- white ; and its head and neck are 

 black, with a couple of white collars across the front of 

 the neck. The Great Northern Diver is a large bird, 

 measuring nearly three feet in length; its wings are 

 small in proportion to its size, but yet the bird is able 

 to fly very rapidly. It is, however, in the water that 

 it is most active ; it swims and dives with the most re- 

 markable ease, and even under water goes as fast as a 

 four-oared boat. Its food consists of fishes, and it breeds 

 amongst the herbage of the sea-shore, the female laying 

 two or three eggs in a neat nest made of grass. 



