THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 127 



really alarmed, or wounded, I have timed the im- 

 mersion of this bird at ten minutes. His rise and 

 dive are then almost instantaneous. On several 

 occasions I have lost sight of the bird completely, 

 and though a calm and open sea extended on all 

 sides, I never saw him again. This I attribute, 

 not so much to the bird having dived an incredible 

 distance, or to its having the power, as some 

 writers state, of remaining indefinitely under water, 

 but rather to the fact of its having risen and 

 disappeared at a spot towards which the eyes were 

 not at the moment directed. The repetition of this 

 a few times would soon put such a Diver beyond 

 the reach of ordinary vision. 



Let me here dissuade any one from crediting what 

 I have read with wonder and amusement, that this 

 Diver slowly sinks tail first, and gradually immerses 

 the body till the head and then the bill are the last 

 to disappear from view. Such a foolish story is 

 only on a par with the reports concerning the origin 

 of the " Bernicle." The bird takes a quick downward 

 sliding dive from the exact spot it may be resting 

 on, invariably head first, for which motion, and 

 its subsequent journeyings under water, its form 

 is perfectly adapted by nature. I have observed 

 them dozens of times, and in all positions of alarm 

 and repose. A Diver going down stern first would 

 be as ridiculous as an arrow shot with the feathers 

 against the wind, for the water would then be in 

 opposition to its plumage, feet, and natural tendency 

 of shape and weight. 



Mr. Lloyd Patterson, writing to me on the 

 subject, has thus admirably described the sub- 



