DIVERS, GREBES, AND CORMORANTS. 157 



land, perhaps never except during the breeding 



season. Its movements on shore are ungainly in 



the extreme, the legs being placed so far back that 



the bird can only push itself along in a crawling 



sort of a way ; it is equally rarely seen in the air, 



and apparently only uses its wings to fly when 



performing its annual migrations. How the species 



still retains the function of flight at all seems 



almost a mystery, but perhaps the constant use of 



the wings in the water keeps them to a standard 



of efficiency. This Diver is one of the least 



gregarious, and save on passage is rarely met with 



in numbers greater than a pair. It seems to be the 



rule for odd pairs to take up their residence in 



certain spots during the breeding season ; after that 



period the bird is usually met with solitary, and the 



young individuals, unlike so many others that 



evince strong gregarious propensities, for the most 



part wander about alone. This Diver, like most 



big birds, is shy and wary, although I have 



repeatedly watched it from the cliffs in Tor Bay 



evincing little concern at my presence. As may be 



gathered from the foregoing remarks the Great 



Northern Diver is a proficient in the art of diving, 



and is said to be able to remain as long as eight 



minutes beneath the surface a period of time 



which seems incredible. The depth to which it 



sometimes descends is also enormous it has been 



captured in a net thirty fathoms from the surface. 



The food of this Diver is almost, if not absolutely, 



