" This species breeds on lochs in the extreme north and north-west of Scotland." 



THE BLACK-THROATED DIVER 



ARK - WATERED, solitary 



D lochs, framed in sombre 



B banks of peat, are the 

 summer haunts of this fas- 

 cinating bird. On land the 

 Black-Throated Diver is 

 the very embodiment of 

 helpless awkwardness, but 

 in the water it is a veritable wonder of 

 grace, skill, and power. It has been said 

 that it can remain submerged for nearly 

 two minutes on end, and swim for a 

 quarter of a mile without putting the tip 

 of its bill above water, and from a good 

 deal of personal observation I do not 

 consider the statement an exaggeration. 

 Nature has specialised in the archi- 

 tecture of the Loon, as this bird is called 

 in America, to a most remarkable 

 extent, for although its legs and feet 

 are so useless on land that they only 



19 145 



serve to push its body over the ground, 

 they are highly efficient instruments for 

 propelling their owner through the water. 

 Even the bones within them have been 

 so fashioned that they produce the 

 minimum of resistance to the water 

 when the limb is being drawn in, and the 

 maximum when it is being thrust out. 



The Black-Throated Diver is one of 

 the shyest and wariest wild creatures 

 I have ever tried to circumvent, and 1 

 would undertake to say that if the 

 intruder upon the solitary privacy of a 

 sitting female only thrust his or her 

 head over a ridge a quarter of a mile 

 away, the bird would instantly detect 

 it and leave her nest. Whilst on the 

 eggs the bird's head is constantly 

 moving from side to side, her quick, 

 keen eyes perpetually scanning every 

 possible avenue of danger. 



