298 THE BLACK-THROATED DIVER 



and sprats, abound, or where fish even of a much larger size are 

 numerous, the Northern Diver finds a rich harvest. Occasionally 

 while thus engaged it meets its death by dashing into the herring 

 nets, and there getting entangled. A fine specimen was recently 

 shown to me in the island of Islay, which had been thus captured. 

 Though it has never been known to take wing in attempting to 

 elude pursuit, it is often seen flying with strength and rapidity, 

 outstripping even the Grebe, which, in proportion to its size, is 

 furnished with far larger wings than itself. 



The adult male, which is a very handsome bird, is of rare occur- 

 rence, most of those which visit our shores being young birds. 



The nest is usually placed near the edge of a reedy lake or large 

 river, having a well-beaten track leading to it from the water's 

 edge. This is formed by the bird in its clumsy effort to walk, a 

 feat which it only performs on such occasions. The nest itself is 

 bulky, and is formed of the vegetable substances found in the 

 immediate vicinity, such as grasses and other herbaceous plants. 

 It contains two, and sometimes three, eggs. The young are able 

 to swim and dive very soon after they are hatched, and are fed 

 for about a fortnight by their parents, at the expiration of which 

 time they have to hunt for themselves. 



THE BLACK-THROATED DIVER 



COLYMBUS ARCTICUS 



Bill slightly curved upwards, with the middle of the lower mandible equal in 

 width to the base, exceeding three inches in length ; head ash-grey ; 

 throat and front of the neck black, lustrous with violet and green ; be- 

 neath the throat a narrow band streaked with white and black ; sides and 

 front of the neck streaked with white and black ; back black, with a 

 longitudinal patch of white and black bars on the upper part ; scapulars 

 with twelve or thirteen transverse white bars ; bill dusky ; iris brown ; 

 feet dusky, with whitish membranes. Young birds have the head and back 

 of the neck greyer and the upper plumage dark brown, edged with 

 bluish ash ; under plumage white ; cheeks white, spotted with ash ; 

 upper mandible ash-grey, lower dull white. Length twenty-four to 

 twenty-eight inches. Eggs dark olive-brown, spotted with purplish 

 brown. 



This Diver differs from the preceding species principally in being 

 of inferior size. The predominant tints of the plumage are the 

 same, and the habits of the two are so similar that a separate descrip- 

 tion is unnecessary. The present species is, however, far less 

 common, though it breeds in the Outer Hebrides and in Scot- 

 land, where both eggs and young birds have been observed, and 

 migrates southward in winter. It lays two eggs, near the edge 

 of a fresh-water loch ; and Mr. Selby observed that a visible 

 track from the water to the eggs was made by the female, whose 

 progress upon land is effected by shuffling along upon her belly, 



