BLACK-THROATED DIVER 509 



inland in the following counties : Queen's Co., Meath, 

 Roscommon, and once or twice on Lough Neagh (Ussher). 



Flight. This species can move rapidly at a considerable 

 height in the air, and at times, when in pursuit of fish, 

 will shoot downwards with almost the speed of a Gannet ; 

 but its diving-powers are no less remarkable than those of 

 its congeners, and it generally escapes danger by travelling 

 under rather than over water. 



Voice. The cry, harsh and unmusical, may be heard a 

 long way off, and is uttered during flight and when the bird 

 is resting on the water. 



Food. Fish, many of which are captured at a consider- 

 able depth below the surface, form the main diet, but crabs 

 and shell-fish are also eaten. 



Nest. The nest is usually situated near the water's edge, 

 generally on a small island of a fresh- water lake. A shallow 

 depression in the ground amid grass and coarse herbage 

 accommodates the two eggs. Floating nests supported by 

 aquatic plants have been observed. 



The eggs are olive-green shading to brown in colour, 

 and thinly spotted with black or very dark brown. 



Incubation is slow, lasting twenty-eight days. 



The Black-throated Diver breeds in many counties of 

 Scotland, especially in the north-western section. The nest 

 has been recorded from Caithness, Sutherland, Inverness- 

 shire, Perthshire, Ross, Argyll, several of the Outer He- 

 brides, the Orkneys, and more recently from the Shetlands. 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, it breeds abun- 

 dantly in Northern Europe (from Scandinavia eastward), 

 Northern Asia over Siberia to the Pacific, and in the 

 Eastern section of Arctic America. In winter it migrates 

 southward over Europe, visiting the coasts and inland 

 waters of that Continent, also the Mediterranean, Black, 

 and Caspian Seas, and extending eastward to Japan. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Top of head and back 

 of neck, ash-grey ; back and scapulars, blackish, marked 

 with wide white quadrate spots ; wing-coverts, spotted with 

 white ; chin and throat, sooty-black ; front of neck, purplish- 

 black, interrupted by a half collar of short white streaks ; 

 primaries and tail, black ; sides of neck, barred with black 



