182 



at 



&c., tend to prevent the water from becom- 

 ing putrid, by devouring the decayed animal 

 and vegetable matter it contains. The 

 maggots of some flies live in toadstools and 

 similar excrescences growing on trees ; those 

 of others in rotten wood and bark. And, 

 finally, many lay their eggs on caterpillars, 

 and on various other larvae, within the 

 bodies of which the maggots hatched from 

 these eggs live till they destroy their victims. 

 Besides performing their various appointed 

 tasks in the economy of nature flies, and 

 other insects, subserve another highly im- 

 portant purpose, for which an allwise Pro- 

 vidence has designed them, namely, that of 

 furnishing food to numerous other animals. 

 Not to mention the various kinds of in- 

 sectivorous quadrupeds, many birds live 

 partly or entirely on insects. The finest 

 song-birds, nightingales and thrushes, feast 

 with the highest relish on maggots of all 

 kinds, as well as on flies and other insects, 

 while warblers, swallows, &c. &c., devour 

 these two-winged insects in great numbers. 

 The works of Meigen, Wi e( lemann, Mac- 

 quart, and Robineau Desvoidy, are the great 

 authorities on this very numerous and every 

 where distributed order of insects. 



DIPUS. [See JEEBOA.] 



DIRT-DAUBER. The name given in 

 the United States to a species of Hymenop- 

 terous insect : for the account of the interest- 

 ing habits of which see PKLOPEUS. 



DIVERS. (Cofyrn&wfce.) A genus of 

 aquatic birds, thus described by Bewick : 

 " The bill is strong, straight, and pointed : 

 the upper mandible longest ; the edges of 

 each bending inwards : nostrils linear, the 

 upper part divided by a small cutaneous 

 appendage : tongue long, pointed, and ser 

 rated on each side near the base : thighs 

 placed far backward : legs thin and flat, and 

 extended horizontally : toes four in number; 

 the exterior the longest ; the back one small, 

 and joined to the interior by a thin mem- 

 brane : tail short, consisting of twenty 

 feathers. These birds are broad, flat, and 

 long-bodied, and swim in a squat position 

 on the water." 



The GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. (Colym- 

 bus glacial is) measures upwards of three 

 feet in length, and four feet six inches in 

 breadth. The bill is black and strong, 

 and to the corners of the mouth is four 

 inches long ; the head and neck are of a 

 deep black, glossed with green and purple ; 

 the hind part of the latter being streaked 

 with a large white band shaped like a cres- 

 cent ; exactly under the throat is another 

 band ; and both are marked with black 

 oblong strokes pointing downwards. The 

 lower part of the neck is a deep black, tinged 

 with a rich purple gloss ; the breast and 

 under side of the body is wholly white ; 

 the sides of the breast are marked with black 

 lines ; and the back, the coverts of the wings, 

 and the scapulars, are black, thickly marked 

 with white spots. The tail is very short, 

 and almost hid by the scapulars ; the legs 

 and feet are black. The female is less than 

 the male, and her whole upper plumage 



inclines more to brown. This bird inhabits 

 the north of Europe and the Arctic coasts, 

 and is sometimes, though rarely, seen in 

 England. It seldom quits the sea, or retires 



(COLYMBOS GLA.CIALI3.) 



inland, except during the period of incuba- 

 tion, when it repairs to the borders of fresh- 

 water lakes i and the female deposits two 

 large eggs of a pale clear yellowish colour, 

 marked with very large and small spots of 

 ashy-purple. Fish is the principal food of 

 this species, and the herring in particular, 

 the fry of fish, crustaceans, and marine 

 vegetables. 



The RED-THROATED DIVER. (.Colymbw 

 scptentrionalis.) This species is about two 

 feet in length, and three feet four inches in 

 breadth. The sides of the head, neck, and 

 throat are mouse colour ; the top of the 

 head is spotted with black ; the hinder and 

 lower part of the neck are longitudinally 

 rayed with black and white ; the upper fore 

 part of the neck, to the throat, is of a deep 

 chestnut-red ; the breast and under parts of 

 the plumage are pure white : the sides, the 

 back, and the rest of the upper parts are 

 blackish brown in the very old birds, but in 

 those of the age of three or four years they 

 are slightly sprinkled with small white spots. 

 The male and female are nearly alike in 

 their plumage. This species inhabits the 

 same cold countries as the other Divers, and 

 its manners and habits do not differ from 

 theirs ; but it is of a more lively character, 

 and has a more sprightly appearance. They 

 breed and are common in Hudson's Bay, 

 Greenland, Iceland, the Zetland and Orkney 

 Isles, &c. The female makes her nest, which 

 is composed of moss and herbage, lined with 

 a little of her own down, on the very edge of 

 the shore : she lays two eggs, which are 

 somewhat longer than those of a hen, and of 

 a dingy bluish-white, thinly marked with 

 dusky spots. They run swiftly on the sur- 

 face of the water, but are very awkward on 

 land, from which they rise with difficulty : 

 their flight, however, when once on the wing, 

 is both strong and swift. 



