COLYMBUS. 401 



Genus COLYMBUS. 



The Divers were associated by Linnaeus with the Guillemots and the 

 Grebes in the genus Colymbus, which was recognized in the twelfth edition 

 of the ' Systema Naturae/ published in 1766 (i. p. 220). According to 

 the Stricklandian Code of Nomenclature the Great Crested Grebe (Podi- 

 ceps cristatus], being the Colymbus colymbus of Brisson, the type of a 

 genus additional to that of Linnaeus, becomes the type of the genus 

 Colymbus. As this would involve the transfer of that name from the 

 Divers to the Grebes, and the adoption of some almost unknown name for 

 the former, it is obvious that the rules must be honoured, in this case, in 

 the breach and not in the observance. To disturb the name of Colymbus 

 for the Divers or that of Podiceps for the Grebes (names which they have 

 almost universally borne for more than a hundred years) would be a viola- 

 tion of the spirit of the Rules, to preserve a pedantic adherence to the 

 letter, which no one would have condemned in stronger terms than Strick- 

 land himself. The only possible alternatives are either to tear up the 

 Rules and consign them to the limbo of good intentions, or to make a 

 special exception to provide for the case (which will thus become an excep- 

 tion to an exception) . Probably the latter alternative will be the wisest. 

 The Great Northern Diver (Colymbus glacialis] has by common consent 

 been accepted as the type. 



The characters and geographical distribution of the genus are the same 

 as those of the family, which does not include any other genus. 



The Divers are oceanic birds in winter, but they retire to inland lakes in 

 summer to breed. They fly like Ducks, but can only progress with the 

 greatest difficulty on land, in consequence of the backward position of their 

 feet, which are formed for swimming and diving. Their notes are loud 

 and harsh. Their food consists almost entirely of fish. They breed close 

 to the water's edge, seldom making much nest. Their eggs are usually 

 two in number, and are dark brown spotted with nearly black. 



