DIVER SHOOTING. 267 



They are bold, and tenacious of life, but extremely shy and diffi- 

 cult of approach ; and, from the facility with which they dive, and 

 the rate at which they swim, it is very difficult to follow them up in 

 such a manner as to secure them j for, unless shot dead, the chances 

 of recovering- them are very small. When wounded, they manage 

 to remain below the surface several minutes, and can with ease go 

 under water one hundred yards at a time ; then, when rising again to 

 the surface, they are so cunning 1 , and possess such extraordinary 

 powers, that they sometimes only show their heads above water ; 

 then, if their pursuers are near by, they again instantly dis- 

 appear. 



The best chance of killing them is to follow them with a sailing- 

 vessel, when they dive, and despatch them with a charge from a 

 large shoulder-gun, the instant they rise to the surface. 



It is seldom that they come far southward of the Orkney and 

 Shetland islands. They are said to breed on the Faroe Islands, as 

 well as in many other northern countries. They prefer cold and icy 

 regions ; and in summer they visit Spitzbergen, Greenland, and other 

 coasts in those latitudes. 



They are sometimes taken under water, by means of a baited 

 hook ; and they are often caught alive by fishermen, in herring-nets. 

 They require cautious handling when taken alive, as they are very 

 savage, and make dangerous attacks upon man or beast, sometimes 

 inflicting serious wounds with their pointed beaks, which they are 

 capable of using with much power and injurious effect. 



The skins of these birds are used freely, in hyperborean latitudes, 

 for articles of clothing-.* 



THE BLACK-THROATED DIVER, 



[Colynibus a/rcticus.'] 



This is also a large and handsome bird, though smaller than the 

 great northern diver. It is seldom seen on our southern coast, except 

 during very severe winters, and is equally shy and difficult of ap- 

 proach as others of the species. It dives with immense facility, and 

 always seems reluctant to take wing when pursued, preferring to 

 trust to its powers of evasion under water. Like others of its 

 species, its flesh is not fit for domestic purposes. 



* Vide Latham's Nat. Hist., Pennant's Arctic Zoology, Gass's Journal, and other 

 books of northern travel. 



