DIVER. NATATORES. COLYMBUS. 407 



common winter visitant. The state in which it is most fre- 

 quently met with (speaking of the district in which I reside), 

 is as the bird of the year ; at this age answering to the Im- 

 ber Diver of our authors (Colymbus limner), and long sup- 

 posed to be a distinct species. The next in number are birds 

 of more than one year old, which have undergone, or are 

 then undergoing, a second general moult, at which time the 

 white spots upon the upper plumage begin to appear, and 

 the head and neck to grow darker. The adult bird (Colym- 

 bus glacialis of authors), is comparatively but rarely met 

 with, and out of more than twenty specimens which have at 

 different times come under my observation, not more than 

 two had attained maturity. Dr FLEMING also states, that in 

 Shetland, where the young are numerous, few old birds oc- 

 cur, but that in the Orkneys both old and young abound 

 during the winter. The Frith of Forth is also a favourite 

 resort, to which they are attracted by the shoals of herring 

 that reside there, and are even caught throughout the winter; 

 and in this gulf some of the finest specimens I have seen of 

 the adult bird have been obtained. It has not yet been as- 

 certained whether any remain to breed here, as its congener 

 the Red-throated species is known to do, the old birds all 

 apparently retiring on the approach of spring to higher lati- 

 tudes for this purpose. During summer they quit the ocean 

 and inhabit the fresh-water lakes of the countries to which 

 they migrate, and upon the shores of these lakes, and on the 

 islets by which they are often studded over, the Divers form 

 their nests and hatch their young. The nest is always close Nest, &c. 

 to the water's edge, so as to afford every facility to a bird 

 whose motions on land are necessarily very constrained. The 

 eggs, which never exceed two in number, are large, and of a 

 deep oil-green colour, with variously sized spots of purplish- 

 red. This species is widely distributed throughout the 

 arctic regions of Europe and Asia, and is equally common 

 in the corresponding latitudes of North America. Dr RICH- 

 ARDSON, in the Fauna America? Borealis, describes it as 



