THE DIVERS GREAT DESTROYERS OF FISH. 333 



support themselves on land except in a position nearly ver- 

 tical, and by the assistance of their wings, which thus act as 

 oars. Sometimes they fall with their stomach flat on the 

 ground, and have some difficulty in raising themselves up. 

 They are seen in our climates only when the rivers and 

 ponds of cold countries are frozen, and they return to their 

 homes in the north after the thaw. iThey undergo a peri- 

 odical change of plumage in one form or another. The Red- 

 throated Diver is tolerably common around the coasts, enter- 

 ing the mouths of rivers after shoals of sprats, etc. The 

 Great Northern Diver, a remarkably handsome bird, occurs 

 on our shores during winter, frequenting the vicinity of the 

 ovster-scalps, and is there well known to the fisherman from 

 its loud and monotonous call. Leemius remarks of the Lap- 

 landers, that if a person hears the cry of any of the divers 

 in spring, and while fasting, the milk from his flocks will not 

 curdle for the whole year. Vigilant and shy, if pursued, it 

 exerts its admirable locomotive powers, and advances with 

 immense speed. Nature has provided means of escape and 

 safety to the divers in the flattened form of the body and 

 the wonderful mechanism of the foot, the membrane of 

 which can be closed preparatory to each stroke. 



From the divers we are easily led to the family of the 

 Auks, by means of the Guillemots, ocean birds to which the 

 attribute of stupidity has been applied, but probably with- 

 out sufficient reflection on their peculiar conformation, the 

 wings being short and narrow so that the bird can scarcely 

 flutter; the legs also from their position are quite unfit for 

 the purpose of walking; and the natural element of the 

 bird is only on the bosom of the sea, where it swims with 

 the greatest swiftness, and even dives below the ice. 



The common is the only one of the British guillemots 

 that can be called abundant, the others being comparatively 

 rare, and some only straggling visitants. It is found around 

 English coasts, to the Shetland and Orkney islands, and also 



