CHAPTER IV. 

 DIVERS, GREBES, AND CORMORANTS. 



Divers Affinities and charac- necked Grebe Black - necked 



teristics Great Northern Diver Grebe Sclav onian Grebe 



Black -throated Diver Red- Little Grebe Cormorants 



throated Diver Grebes Char- Characteristics Changes of 



acteristics Changes of Plumage Plumage Cormorant Shag 



Great Crested Grebe Red- Gannet. 



THE birds included in the present chapter 

 belong to three well-defined families. None 

 of them are so completely pelagic as the Auks, 

 and yet, according to season, many of them are 

 interesting features in the bird-life of the coast. 

 Uufortunately for the summer visitor to the sea- 

 side, the Divers will be absent. They are birds 

 that resort chiefly to inland districts to rear their 

 young, or are only known as winter visitors to 

 the British Coasts. The Divers form a small but 

 well-marked family known as COLYMBID^:, consisting 

 of a single genus Colymbus, into which are grouped 

 the four species that are now known to science. The 

 Divers are allied to the Auks on the one hand, to 

 the Grebes on the other, although systematists are 



