PALMIPEDES. o59 



Mergus*, Briss. — Colymbus, Lath. — Eudytes, Illig. 



The true Divers have the feet of ordinary Palmipedes, along with all 

 the forms of the Grebes, that is, the anterior toes are united to their ends 

 by membranes, and are terminated by pointed nails. They are northern 

 birds, which rarely breed in France, where they arrive in winter; at that 

 season they are occasionally seen on the coast. 



Col. glacialls, L.; Enl. 952; Col. immer, Gm., Wils. Am. IX, 

 Ixxiv, 3; Naum. 06, f. 103. (The Great Northern Diver). The 

 adult is two feet six inches in length, its head and neck black, chang- 

 ing to a green with a whitish collar ; back, a blackish-brown dotted 

 with whitish,; white beneath ; the lower mandible, which has a slight 

 curve upwards, is marked by a groove beneath. The young birds, 

 Col. immer, Gm., Briss. VI, x, 1, which more frequently visit the 

 fresh waters, differ considerably as to the extent of the black on the 

 neck, and of the grey or brown on the back, which, added to their 

 diminished size, has occasioned a multiplication of the number of 

 species. We distinguish 



Col, arcticus, L. ; Edw. 146; Naum. Supp. 30, f. 60; and the 

 young, Enl. 914, Le Lumme (The Black-throated Diver), which is 

 somewhat smaller; the back of the neck ash-coloured, and the lower 

 mandible straight, and without a groove. The young resemble those 

 of the preceding. 



Col. septentrionalis, Enl. 308 ; Edw. 97 ; Naum. 67, f. 94 ; Vieill. 

 Gal. 282; Col. stellatus, Gm.; BufF. VIII, xxi; Enl. 992; Naum. 

 Supp. 31, f. 62. (The Red-throated Diver). The adult male is 

 brown above, white beneath ; face and sides of the neck ash-coloured ; 

 front of the neck red. The female and the young are brown, dotted 

 with white above, and all white beneath. 



URiAf , Briss. et Illig. 



The Guillemots have a bill which, though of the general form of the 

 preceding, is covered with feathers, down to the nostrils ; there is also an 

 emargination at the point which is somewhat arcuated. Their chief cha- 

 racter, however, consists in the absence of the thumb. Their wings, 

 much shorter than those of the Divers, scarcely enable them to flutter. 

 They feed on fish, crabs, &c., and are found among rocky precipices 

 where they breed. 



The large species, called the Great Guillemot, Colymbus troile, L., 

 Enl. 903; Brit. Zool., pi. H; Edw. 359, 1; Frisch, 185, is the 

 size of a Duck, the head and neck brown, back and wings blackish, 

 and a white belly ; there is a white line upon the wing formed by 



M. Ch. Bonap., as well as Gmelin, thinks that this genus should be approximated to 

 that of Anhinga. 



* Mergus (diver), the Latin name of some sea-bird difficult to determine. Lin- 

 naeus, following Gesner, has applied it to the Merganser. Eudytes, a Greek word 

 composed by Illiger, has the same meaning. 



f Uria, the Greek, or rather Latin'name of an aquatic bird which appears to have 

 been either a Diver or a Grebe. Guillemot, the English name, would seem to indi- 

 cate its stupidity. 



