414 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



THE BLACK-THROATED DIVER. 



COLYMBUS ARCTICUS. 

 Learga. 



WHEN seen decked in its beautiful summer plumage, it may fairly 

 be questioned if there is a finer or more striking bird in the entire 

 range of British ornithology than the Black-throated Diver. There 

 is something in its appearance which at once captivates the most 

 careless, and when caught alive by the fishermen, who sometimes 

 find a stray specimen on their lines, and in salmon or herring 

 nets, it is taken home in triumph as an object of beauty, and care- 

 fully bargained into the hands of the nearest collector. Many 

 times I have seen these lovely captives carried about for disposal 

 at fishing towns on both the eastern and western coasts of Scot- 

 land. They seem to come shorewards in May, and remain a short 

 distance from land, travelling northwards, especially on the west 

 coast, until they slip off unperceived about the same time as their 

 ally the great northern diver. A number of pairs take up their 

 summer quarters on various lochs on the mainland, in Argyllshire, 

 Perthshire, Inverness-shire, Ross-shire, and Sutherlandshire ; and 

 on almost every loch in the Outer Hebrides there are to be found 

 one or two pairs breeding. In Lewis they may be seen on Loch 

 Langhabat, and similar sheets of water, and in North Uist I know 

 of at least five different lakes where they breed. Benbecula can 

 likewise boast of several breeding stations. I have seen both old 

 and young birds there in September. The spots selected for nidifi- 

 cation on these solitary patches of water are generally small rocky 

 islets, and occasionally a spit of land or stony promontory stretching 

 some distance into the lake. There is no nest the eggs being 

 merely placed on the ground, and near the water, often not 

 eighteen or twenty inches from it. When the young are hatched, 

 the parent birds lead them away almost directly, especially if in 

 the slightest way molested, and throughout the entire breeding 

 season, indeed, this species is remarkably shy. Sometimes, by 

 close and careful watching, and keeping strictly concealed, one 

 may get near enough to distinguish a family group as they are 

 fishing together on the lakes about sunset. I have myself managed 

 to come upon them unperceived when so engaged, and a more 

 beautiful group of birds could not be imagined. Immediately on 



