t?6 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



Family COL YMBIDAi. 



RED-THROATED DIVER. 



Colymbus septeiitrioiialis, LINN. 



^ I ^HE Red- throated Diver breeds commonly in the Shetlauds, Orkneys, and 

 J_ the Outer Hebrides, but is only a spring and autumn visitor to Skye, where, 

 however, it has been known to breed. It breeds also in the north and the west of 

 Scotland as far south as Argyll. In Ireland, to which country it is a regular winter 

 visitor, often found late in spring, it has been found breeding in one district in 

 Donegal, but, according to Mr. Ussher, the persistent taking of its -eggs must 

 soon drive it from this haunt, if that has not already been done. 



In autumn this bird migrates southward, and in winter is found commonly 

 all round our coasts and about the larger estuaries and harbours, while it has 

 often been observed late in spring. It is numerous in the Channel and about 

 the estuary of the Thames, and from its habit of following the shoals of sprats 

 and herrings is known as the Sprat Loon, a name by which it was known in the 

 Thames in Pennant's day. They occasionally wander up rivers, and have been found 

 on fresh-water lakes and pools ; as a straggler they occur in the inland parts of 

 the country. They usually keep at a little distance from the land, but the late 

 E. H. Rodd used occasionally to observe them fishing close in shore, near enough 

 to enable him to watch their graceful and wonderful movements in the water. 

 The red throat is, in the adults, lost very late in the autumn, and probably for 

 a short time only in some cases. Specimens with this mark developed have often 

 occurred even on our southern coasts. As late as the 28th of November I saw a 

 bird off the shore at Cromer, which, as seen through the glass, had a rather dark 

 brown throat still showing. 



The Red-throated Diver is a circumpolar species, breeding in the far north of 

 both hemispheres, and in Europe as far south as Scotland. It breeds in the 

 Faeroes, Iceland, Spitsbergen, Novaya Zemlya, Greenland, Scandinavia, and across 

 Northern Europe, Siberia, and the far north of America, breeding in very high 

 latitudes. It has been observed in summer on Jan Mayen Island, and has been 

 shot on some of the islands of Franz Josef Laud. Its southward migrations 

 extend nearly to the south of the United States in winter, also to Japan, and in 



