456 



THE DIVING Biuns — ror.OI'DDES. 



the grayish white coloration of the occiput and m\]w clmructeri.stic nf this siK'i'ics. Tlie com- 

 parative iiiuasiirenieuts of ardicus and jnicijicus may be best shown by the following tigures : — 



AVint;. Ciiliiii'ii. Depth <>r lull at biuiu. TantiiH. LungtHt tiH'. 



i 



)'iiiiiiij. 



■■^^^g^^ 



^Fr. Konnicott mot with the I'acitit! form of the lihick-tliroated Diver breeding on 

 the edges of lakes, and mentions tiiiding a m-st in water about eighteen inehes deep, 

 in grass at the edge of a long, narrow lake. It consisted of a mere pile of hay, like 

 the nest of a (Irelie. with the top very little above the surface of the water. Another 

 was in tlie grass at the edge of a lake, built like a trrebe's nest, but larger. 



Mr. Hannister si)eaks of tliis bird as being common at the Island of St. ^lichael's. 

 Mr. Dall states that the skins are much sought for by the natives, and are obtaintnl 

 while the birds are breeding in tiie shallow lagoons, wliere they cannot dive, and 

 wliere they art; netted in great numbers ; the eggs were obtained at Fort Yukon. 

 Mr. lloss mentions finding a few birds of this species on the Mackenzie Uiver. 



Dr. Cooper speaks of tliis form as quite common in the winter as far scmth as San 

 I)it!go. From the fact of his having killed a female in May, he thinks that it may 

 l)reed in the mountain lakes, though not y<'t observed there, in summer. In its haliits 

 it (dosely resend)les the ('. iiinurr; but lie has never known it to scream or to utter 

 any sound. This silence may be attributable to tlie season. 



Mr. JIacFarlaue found it breeding in considcral)le numbers in the vicinity of Fort 

 Anderson. The nests were usually on the bonh'rs of small lakes, .sometimes a mere 

 hole in the turf with a slight sprinkling of feathers therein, or a mere piece of tuii 

 without lining, hardly al)ove the level of the water, or a nuiss of decayed vegetable 

 nuitter with a slight depression in the centre, on the edge of and in the water. In 

 another instance the nest was composed (jf a piece of turf about two feet s(piare, on 

 the lM)rder of a snuiU lake, and nearly four feet from the shore. A hole had been 



