COLYMBUS.] AVES NATATORES. 25? 



271. C. septentrionalis. Linn. (Red-throated Diver.) 

 Occiput and nape with black and white streaks; front 

 of the neck deep orange-brown ; bill scarcely, or not ex- 

 ceeding, three inches ; slightly recurved ; tomia very much 

 inflexed. 



C. septentrionalis, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn, n. p. 916. Red-throated 

 Diver, Mont. Orn. Diet, fy Supp. Bew. Brit. Birds, vol. n. p. 177. 

 Selb. Illust. vol. n. p. 414. pis. 78, & 78*. 



DIMENS. Entire length twenty-six inches three lines : length of the 

 bill (from the forehead) one inch eleven lines, (from the gape) two inches 

 eleven lines and a half; of the tarsus two inches ten lines ; of the tail 

 three inches three lines ; from the carpus to the end of the wing eleven 

 inches three lines : breadth, wings extended, three feet four inches seven 

 lines. 



DESCRIPT. (Adult.) Sides of the head, throat, and sides of the neck, 

 mouse-gray ; crown spotted with black ; occiput, nape and lower part of 

 the neck, marked with longitudinal streaks of black and white ; on the 

 front of the neck a large patch of deep orange-brown ; breast and belly 

 silvery white ; flanks and thighs streaked with dusky : back, and all the 

 other upper parts dusky brown, without spots in very old individuals, but 

 in birds of three and four years of age, with small indistinct whitish spots : 

 bill black; the commissure quite straight, but the upper mandible being 

 considerably depressed above the nostrils, the ascending gonys of the 

 lower one causes the bill, when closed, to appear slightly recurved; tomia 

 of both mandibles greatly inliexed : irides orange-brown : feet externally 

 greenish gray; internally livid white; membranes the same. (Young of 

 the year.) Forehead, crown and nape, dusky ash, finely streaked with 

 grayish white; back, scapulars and rump, dusky brown, copiously 

 sprinkled with small oval white spots arranged along the edges of the 

 feathers; wing-coverts bordered with white towards their extremities: 

 throat, sides and fore part of the neck, breast and belly, white ; flanks 

 streaked with dusky : quills and tail blackish gray : bill grayish white ; 

 the ridge of the upper mandible dusky : irides brown : legs externally 

 dark greenish gray ; internally, as well as the \vebs, greenish white. At 

 the end of the first year, a few red feathers begin to show themselves on 

 the fore part of the neck ; and the white spots on the upper parts become 

 smaller and less distinct. After the second moult, the patch of orange- 

 brown is nearly complete, but still mixed with a little white : the spots on 

 the upper parts gradually disappear as the bird advances to maturity. 

 (Egg.) Chestnut-brown, rather thickly spotted with dark umber-brown: 

 long. diam. two inches eight lines ; trans, diam. one inch ten lines. 



A winter visitant on the English coast of not unfrequent occurrence, 

 particularly in the immature state. Remains all the year in the Orkney 

 and Shetland Islands, where it breeds. Nest placed on the extreme 

 borders of lakes, composed of rushes and dry grass. Eggs two in number. 

 Food similar to that of the last species. Flies well, and is also an 

 excellent diver. Obs. The Speckled Diver of Pennant and Montagu 

 (C. stellatus, Gmel.) is the young of the year of this species. The 

 Second Speckled Diver of Bewick is perhaps the same bird a little 

 nearer advanced to maturity. 



