GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 431 



Shetland, I saw a Northern Diver in Hammer Voe, in the 

 parish of Northmaven, on the 28th of June ; it was in 

 perfect plumage, and I was informed it had been there 

 all the summer. I presume it must have been wounded, 

 or it would have left in the spring. It was remarkably 

 shy ; I tried several times to get a shot at it, but was un- 

 successful." 



Mr. Hewitson, when in Norway, saw the Great North- 

 ern Diver, though rarely, in the fiords of the west coast. 

 Richard Dann, Esq. sent me word that the Northern Diver 

 occasionally appears on the lakes and rivers in Tornea and 

 Lulea Lapmark early in spring, on the first breaking up of 

 the ice, but is a rare visitant. Although well known to 

 the Laps, all agreed it appeared but seldom. It, in all 

 probability, traverses Lapland on its passage east from the 

 north-west coast of Norway. It breeds on some of the 

 islands of Finmark, but is rarely seen in Sweden, except in 

 winter. The Northern Diver breeds on the Faroe Islands, 

 and Mr. Proctor thus notices what occurred to him, in 

 reference to this species, on his recent visit to Iceland. It 

 breeds on the lochs of fresh water about a day's journey 

 from Myvatn ; a single egg was deposited on the bare 

 ground, but just out of water-mark, rather under a rugged 

 bank on some broken ground. I was successful in finding 

 two nests. I allowed the single egg to remain in one of 

 them, in the expectation that another egg would be laid 

 to it, but was disappointed. The old bird was very shy, 

 and always left the egg on our approach, when at a great 

 distance off, taking to the water and keeping so far from 

 the side as not to be within shot. 



The Great Northern Diver visits Spitzbergen and Green- 

 land in summer ; it was observed by Dr. Richardson and 

 others on all the lakes of the interior of the Fur-countries 



