546 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



of the under parts are pure white ; the back of the 

 thighs to the tail-coverts very dark dusky, speckled 

 with white. Another specimen, likewise shot at Ex- 

 mouth in October, and certainly a young bird of the 

 year, has the throat and sides of the neck much 

 clouded and mixed with dusky; the top of the head 

 and back of the neck dusky grey, mixed with white ; 

 the back and scapulars are much the same ground 

 colour as the last, perhaps rather paler, but the 

 white spots are very different in shape, being much 

 longer and not so round in fact, the top of the 

 feathers are nearly margined with white, there being 

 only a little break in the centre at the tip ; the rest 

 of the plumage is much as in the last. In these two 

 last states of plumage it is the first and second 

 "Speckled Diver" of Bewick. 



The eggs are reddish brown, spotted with much 

 darker brown. 



This is the last of the Grebes and Divers I can 

 include in this list. I do not think they can be con- 

 sidered either of much use or harm in their relation 

 to man : perhaps an occasional unsuccessful fisher- 

 man may growl at a " Sprat Loon," as he would call 

 it, for driving the fish away from the coast, but that 

 is merely an outburst of ill temper; no doubt they 

 eat a few fish, but not enough seriously to diminish 

 their number. 



