LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY, 



152 



hand appears in reach, there is a sudden splash with wings 

 and feet, and such a thrust is delivered with the sharp bill 

 that, if it take effect, it will probably interfere with the captor's 

 shooting for some days afterwards. 



" Its usual note bears considerable resemblance to the 

 b irking of a small dog; but upon a calm summer's evening 

 I have heard it utter a long-drawn plaintive cry so strangely 

 unlike any other known to me that I cannot even attempt to 

 describe it. Upon the long-disputed subject of the capability 

 of the Divers to sit erect, most observers confidently assert 

 that they have seen it in that attitude. My own repeated 

 disappointments have convinced me at least that a Cormorant 

 having the under parts white has invariably been the cause of 

 such impression." 



Nest. A rude affair of dead grass and water-plants, placed 

 at a short distance from the water, and approached by a path 

 worn by the passage of the birds to and fro. 



Eggs. Two in number. Ground- colour olive-brown or choco- 

 late-brown, with black spots varying in size, and occasionally 

 collecting round the larger end, the underlying spots indistinct 

 and dark grey. Axis, 3'4-3'85 inches; diam., 2-1-2-3. 



II. THE WHITE-BILLED DIVER. COLYMBUS ADAMSI. 



Colymbus adamsi^ Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 167 ; B. O. U. List 

 Brit. B. p. 201 (1883) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 405 

 (1885); Saunders, Man. Brit. B. p. 695 (1889). 



(Plate CXI 77.) 



Adult Male. Similar to C. glacialis, but distinguished by the 

 yellow or whitish bill and by the more distinct purple shade 

 on the throat. The white streaks composing the transverse 

 band on the throat are much broader and are not more than 

 eight in number, whereas in C. glacialis there are more than 

 twelve; the band on the lower neck is wider than that of 

 C. glacialis, and consists of less than ten streaks of white, 

 while in C. glacialis there are twenty of these white streaks. 

 The lower back and rump are uniform, not spotted with white 

 as in C. glacialis ; bill whitish, a little dusky at the base. 



