1 90 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



adapted for an aquatic life, they are apparently incapable of 

 standing upright on land. When leaving the water to gain 

 the nest, the bird lies on its belly, and slowly pushes itself up 

 the gently-sloping peat or turf bank by using its legs alternately. 

 Generally there are two distinct short ' runs ' leading from the 

 nest to the water, doubtless made by the bodies of the birds 

 being dragged over the soft, wet ground as they change places 

 during the period of incubation. The nest is merely a slight 

 hollow in the wet bank pressed down by the body of the bird, 

 sometimes imperfectly lined with a few bits of dead grass. On 

 one occasion, being anxious, if possible, to secure the parent 

 birds without shooting them, two carefully concealed gins were 

 placed under the water just at the end of the * runs,' so that it 

 seemed an absolute certainty that the sitting bird must be 

 caught by the legs either in going to or leaving the nest. This 

 plan, however, utterly failed. Being hidden a couple of 

 hundred yards off, we watched the female bird (for it was her 

 turn on the nest) through the glass. Three times she settled 

 herself comfortably on the eggs, and as many times we 

 frightened her off. But on each occasion she passed over the 

 traps without touching them, though the depth of water could 

 not have been more than two inches. On leaving the nest 

 the parent bird glides gracefully and quietly into the water, 

 and, if danger has been sighted, almost instantly dives, with 

 scarcely a ripple, re-appearing at a considerable distance from 

 the nest. If the cause of uneasiness is near at hand, the body 

 is sunk in the water till little more than the head and neck 

 are visible, and it may easily be imagined that in rough water 

 the birds are most difficult to see, even with the help of 

 the glass. 



"When unconscious of danger, the Divers float and dive and 

 preen themselves much like Ducks, often raising themselves to 

 semi-erect positions in the water, and flapping their wings. 

 Some of the attitudes assumed by them when dressing their 

 feathers are very curious. When preening the feathers of the 

 sides and flanks, the birds turn half over, shewing the whole of 

 the white sides of the breast and belly, and when sorting the 

 feathers of the breast, they turn right over on their backs and 

 float. 



" This species differs from the Black- throated Diver in one 



