DIVER'S NEST. 93 



nest of the great northern diver, with its well- 

 beaten path, or " crawl." This nest, formed of 

 grasses and herbaceous plants, is placed upon a 

 mass of such materials gathered from the sur- 

 rounding plants. The internal nest is from twelve 

 to fifteen inches in diameter, and is raised to the 

 height of several inches. The nest of the snake- 

 bird, placed on large cypresses overhanging the 

 sides of lagoons, and composed of green branches, 

 moss, and roots, measures two feet in diameter, and 

 has a flattened form. Another large nest is that of 

 the American swan. Captain Lyon describes it as 

 built of moss-peat, nearly six feet long, four and 

 three-quarters wide, and two feet high externally, 

 the cavity being a foot and a-half in diameter. 



The following account of the discovery of the 

 nest of the wandering albatross will be read with 

 interest, as exhibiting the situation and the simple 

 form and large size of the nest of this bird * : 

 "Yesterday, May 28th, being a fine morning, 

 accompanied by ten of the men, I determined to 

 ascend the mountain. As several parties had 

 before gone up, they had formed a kind of path ; 



* Earle's " Narrative of a Nine Months' Eesidence in the 

 Island of Tristan d'Acunha." 



