PODICIPINJE. PODICEPS. 209 



278. COLYMI3US SEPTENTRIONALIS. RED-THROATED LOON. 



Adult about two feet five inches long, with the bill bluish- 

 black, slightly curved upwards, two inches and a third along 

 the ridge, two-thirds of an inch in height at the base, with 

 the sides prominent, the edges much inflected ; the sides of 

 the head and neck, with the throat, bluish-grey ; the upper 

 part of the head marked with small dark spots, the nape, 

 hind, and lower parts of the neck streaked with black and 

 white, the fore-part of the neck with a broad longitudinal 

 band of deep orange-red ; the upper parts greenish-black, 

 without spots ; the lower white,, but the sides greyish-black, 

 and a narrow dark-grey band across the hind-part of the ab- 

 domen. Young in winter with the bill flesh-coloured at the 

 base, pale bluish-grey toward the end, the ridge dusky-brown ; 

 the upper part of the head and the hind-neck greenish-grey, 

 finely streaked with pale grey ; the cheeks and sides of the 

 neck white, faintly dotted with grey ; the fore-part of the 

 neck white ; the upper parts deep greenish -grey, glossy, and 

 finely speckled with greyish- white, of which there are two 

 oblong, divergent spots on each feather; the lower parts 

 pure white, except the sides under the wings, which are dark- 

 grey speckled with white, and a faint grey band across the 

 hind-part of the abdomen. 



Male, 26, 44, llf, 2^, 3, 3, T V Female, 23, 41. 



This species is much more common than the Great Northern 

 Loon. From October to April it is met with in estuaries and 

 along the coast, from the British Channel to Cape Wrath. 

 In summer, many pairs breed by the lakes of ihe northern 

 parts of Scotland and the Hebrides. The nest is bulky and 

 rude; the eggs, two, elongated, unequal, the larger three 

 inches in length, an inch and cloven- twelfths in breadth, olive- 

 brown, greenish-brown, of various tints spotted and dotted 

 with umber. The young betake themselves to the water soon 

 after birth. The activity of this species on the water, and in 

 flying, is still greater than that of the King-necked Loon ; 

 but the habits of all the species are very similar. 



Red-throated Diver. Speckled Diver. Sprat Loon. 



Colymbus septentrionalis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 220. Colym- 

 bus septentrionalis, borealis, striatus, and stellatus, Lath. 

 Ind. Ornith. ii. 800, 801, 802, adult and young. Colymbus 

 septentrionalis, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 916. Colymbus 

 septentrionalis, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 



