218 NATURAL UISTOKY. 



worth the getting, while in others it is nearly equal to the first two takes. L. is of opinion that 

 no Guillemot lays more than two eggs in a season; and it is much easier to obtain accurate information 

 respecting the habits of birds at a place like Flamborough, where the birds are scattered over som^ 

 miles of cliffs, than at the Fern Islands, where they are crowded together in a dense mass on 

 only four rocks. He alsD informed me that each bird frequents the same ledge year after year, 

 and lays the same-colourel egg every year, although the variety of colour in the eggs of different 

 birds is wonderfully great. He tells me that he used to get a very rare and highly-prized variety 

 of the Guillemot's egg, of an almost uniform rich reddish-brown colour, on a certain ledge twice 

 every year, for fifteen years in succession, after which the poor bird died, or was shot, or became a 

 ' shunted dowager.' The chief thing that strikes an ornithologist who has been accustomed to estimate 

 the eggs of the Guillemot by the Fern Island standard, and afterwards visits Flamborough, is the 

 extraordinary beauty and variety of colouring in the eggs found at the latter station. Not only 

 are the colours more varied, but they are decidedly more brilliant." 



In the second group of the Alcinae are found the Little Auks (Mergulw). The best known 



species is the Rotche (Mergulus alle), a bird scarcely larger than a Thrush, though possessing the 



thick-set body and dense plumage of the Auk family. It is seen in large numbers in the northern 



.seas, where it may be observed, even in rough weather, far away from land, cresting the billows or diving 



for food in every direction. It nests in communities on islands such as Spitzbergen and Novaia 



Zemlia, and is a common bird in Greenland. The third group of the Auks contains only the Puffins, 



; some of which are rather handsome birds of their kind, a few of them having fine crests ; while in the 



Common Puffin (Mormon fratercula) the bill is variegated with bright colours, the skin of which is 



. shed at a certain period of the year. These birds also appear to be more migratory than the other Auks. 



The second family of the Diving Birds contains the true Divers (Colymbinoi), which possess a 

 hind toe and a very short rounded tail. The neck is long, differing much in this respect from the 

 preceding family of the Auks, but, on the other hand, showing a great affinity to the Grebes. The 

 Divers, however, are as much inhabitants of the ocean as the Grebes are of fresh water ; and instead 

 of being found all over the world, they are confined to northern latitudes, whence they migrate farther 

 south in the winter season, but never quit the confines of the Palsearctic region in the eastern hemi- 

 sphere, and the Nearctic region in the western. The great Northern Diver (Colymbus glacialis) is the 

 largest of the three European species, but the other two are perhaps the best known the Red-throated 

 Diver (C. s&ptentrlonalis) and the Black-throated Diver (C. arcticits], both of which occur not only in 

 Europe, but also in North America. Mr. Dresser gives a good account of the habits of the Red- 

 throated Diver in his " Birds of Europe," where he writes : " Water seems to be the element where 

 this species and its allies are most at home ; for on land it is extremely awkward, and moves along 

 with difficulty and in the most clumsy manner ; and though its flight is swift, yet it is, comparatively 

 speaking, less frequently seen on the wing, except when on passage or on its way from one sheet of 

 water to the other. But in the water its movements are graceful and easy, and whether swimming on 

 the surface or diving below, it propels itself with great rapidity and ease. It swims low down in 

 the water, and when uneasy or alarmed will submerge its body below the surface, leaving only the 

 head and neck in view. When it dives it vanishes beneath the surface without noise or flutter, and 

 propels itself along with its wings as well as its feet, frequently remaining for some time before it 

 emerges to view again. When it flies up from the water it flaps for some short distance along the 

 surface, splashing the water as it progresses, and seems as if it had a difficulty in rising into the air ; 

 but when once well under weigh it flies with great rapidity, its flight being direct, the neck stretched 

 out horizontally. When flying any distance and when on passage, it proceeds at a great altitude, and 

 may sometimes be heard uttering its peculiar loud cry, which, like that of its allies, is exceedingly 

 weird and strange, resembling most the agonising shriek of distress uttered by a drowning person ; 

 and even when one is accustomed to hear this wild cry, one cannot always divest oneself of the feeling 

 that something 'uncanny' is near, when in the dusk of the evening the wild weird shriek is suddenly 

 uttered in the immediate vicinity. In some parts its cry is supposed to foretell the near approach of 

 rain ; but it appears chiefly to circle at a considerable altitude, uttering its cry, during rain. Though 

 shy and very wary when it has been subjected to persecution, it is, as a rule, far less so than its allies ; 

 and when unmolested it is tolerably fearless. When in Finland I used very frequently to see the 



