154 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vii. 



tent, packed up everything and walked away without 

 in the least disturbing her serenity. During a heavy 

 shower the bird was covered with iridescent raindrops 

 (Plate 15), which she made no attempt to remove. 

 Did the self-conscious beauty realize the additional 

 charm imparted to her plumage by this delicate net- 

 work of rare jewels ? 



"deliberately took a header." 



When leaving the nest she usually dived off quite 

 suddenly, but once she stood up and deliberately took 

 a header into the water, then swam round and round 

 the tarn, preening her feathers, stretching and flapping 

 her wings and drinking, but on no occasion was she 

 absent from the nest for more than five minutes. 



No two birds of the same species could possibly 

 present a greater contrast than did the two pairs of 

 Red-throated Divers I tried to photograph. The first, 

 shy, bird was generally accompanied by her mate, 

 whereas the second, perfectly amenable one, might 

 almost have been alone in charge of the eggs. 



The first had been sitting a fortnight when I went 

 to her the second time, yet she was as shy and wild as 



I 



