GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 231 



The Laplanders, according to Regnard, cover their heads 

 with a cap made of the skin of a Loom (Loon), which word 

 signifies in their language lame, because the bird cannot- walk 

 well. They place it on their head in such a manner, that the 

 bird's head falls over their brow, and its wings cover their ears. 



" Northern Divers," says Hearne, " though common in Hud- 

 son's Bay, are by no means plentiful; they are seldom found 

 near the coast, but more frequently in fresh water lakes, and 

 usually in pairs. They build their nests at the edge of small 

 islands, or the margins of lakes or ponds; they lay only two 

 eggs, and it is very common to find only one pair and their 

 young in one sheet of water: a great proof of their aversion to 

 society. They are known in Hudson's Bay by the name of 

 Loons."* 



The Great Northern Diver measures two feet ten inches 

 from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, and four feet six 

 inches in breadth; the bill is strong, of a glossy black, and four 

 inches and three-quarters long to the corner of the mouth; the 

 edges of the bill do not fit exactly into each other, and are rag- 

 ged, the lower mandible separates into two branches, which are 

 united by a thin elastic membrane, and are easily moveable ho- 

 rizontally or receding from each other, so as to form a wider 

 gap to facilitate the swallowing of large fish; tongue bifid; iri- 

 des dark blood red; the head, and half of the length of the neck, 

 are of a deep black, with a green gloss, and purple reflections; 

 this is succeeded by a band, consisting of interrupted white and 

 black lateral stripes, which encompasses the neck, and tapers 

 to a point on its fore part, without joining this band measures 

 about an inch and a half in its widest part, and to appearance is 

 not continuous on the back part of the neck, being concealed by 

 some thick, overhanging, black feathers, but on separating the 

 latter the band becomes visible: the feathers which form these 

 narrow stripes are white, streaked down their centre with black, 

 and, what is a remarkable peculiarity, their webs project above 



*Hearne's Journey, p. 429, quarto. 



