130 GEEAT NORTHERN DIVEE. 



quent on the Banffshire 'coast. It also inhabits the northern 

 parts of Sutherlandshire; and Mr. Selby mentions that a pair 

 were observed near the mouth of the Durness Frith in full 

 summer plumage. One was shot off the mouth of the Spey, 

 which was found to contain no fewer than nineteen flounders 

 and a salmon-trout. In Orkney, as before mentioned, youug 

 birds are common at all seasons of the year, and old ones, 

 which are more abundant in winter, are not unfrequently 

 seen in summer, and are therefore believed to breed in the 

 islands, that is, some pairs, for the generality leave about the 

 latter end of May or beginning of June. In the Hebrides, 

 Mr. Macgillivray mentions that they were observed in plenty 

 till the beginning of that month. In Shetland, too, the bird 

 is, or rather used to be. plentiful. Mr. Robert Dunn shot 

 one in Hammer Voe, in the parish of Northmaven, on the 

 28th. of June. It was in perfect plumage, and he was 

 informed that it had been there all the summer. 



In Ireland it has occasionally occurred on the Wexford 

 and other shores, and Dr. Fleming has recorded the occurrence 

 of one off the coast of Waterford, in the month of July, 

 1816. Thomas Eyton, Esq., of Eyton, mentions its appear- 

 ance in North Wales; and Mr. Dillwyn has noted it in the 

 vicinity of Swansea. 



The sea is mainly the resort of this species, but it is 

 occasionally found on rivers, and breeds on the larger ones 

 and inland lakes; this chiefly within the polar circle. St. 

 Kilda's 'lonely isle' is one of their more southerly stations. 



They are very shy in their natural habits, nevertheless they 

 have been kept for some time in confinement, when well 

 supplied with water. They are courageous as well as powerful 

 birds, and the blows that they are able to give are formidable 

 from their size and strength. 



Montagu says, 'A Northern Diver, taken alive, was kept 

 in a pond for some months, which gave us an opportunity 

 of attending to its manners. In a few days it became extremely 

 docile, would come at the call from one side of the pond to 

 the other, and would take food from the hand. The young, 

 when only a day or two old, are led to the water by their 

 mother. 



The following account is quoted by Yarrell, as given by 

 Mr. Thomas Nuttall, of Boston, who kept another for some 

 time: 'A young bird of this species which I obtained in 

 the Salt Marsh at Chelsea Beach, and transferred to a fish- 



