THE DIVERS. 249 



they did net attempt to dive on our approach, but kept swimming around their young, which, from 

 their very tender age, were unable to make much way in the water. The female could only be 

 distinguished from the male by a slight inferiority of size, and both were in full adult plumage. We 

 afterwards saw several pairs upon various lochs, and upon Loch Kay, a pair attended by two young 

 ones nearly half grown. When swimming they are in the constant habit of dipping their bill into the 

 water, with a graceful motion of the head and beak." 



Mr. Dunn, who observed these birds in Norway, tells us that, "The eggs have a very rank fishy 

 taste, but are much sought after by the Lapps. After the young are hatched, both male and female 

 are very assiduous in bringing them food, and may be seen flying at a vast height, with fish in their 

 beaks, from one lake to another ; on arriving over the lake where they intend to alight, they descend 

 very suddenly in an oblique direction." The cries of this Diver are very peculiar during the breeding 

 season, and may be heard at a great distance. The voice is said to be very melancholy, and to 

 resemble the cry of a human being in distress. 



THE RED-THROATED DIVER. 



The Red-throated Diver (Colymbiis septentrionalis), as the smallest of these three species is 

 called, is only from twenty-five to twenty-six inches long, and from forty to forty-three broad ; the 

 wing measures from ten inches and a half to twelve and a half; and the tail two and a half to three 

 and a half inches. The colour of this bird is ash-grey upon the head and on the sides of the neck ; 

 the back of the neck is striped with white ; the front of the throat bright chestnut-brownish red ; the 

 back is brownish black ; the under side white ; the front and sides of the breast are black, with 

 longitudinal rows of spots. In their winter dress the feathers of the back are tipped with white, and 

 the region of the throat is white. In young birds the colours of the plumage are indistinct. The eye is 

 light brownish red ; the beak black ; the foot is dark brown, mingled with blueish grey, the latter colour 

 being deepest on the web between the toes. This bird inhabits the high northern latitudes of the 

 eastern hemisphere, and is more especially met with upon the coasts of Greenland, Spitzbergen, and 

 of European and Asiatic Russia. It is likewise common in the Faroe Islands, as well as in the 

 Orkneys and the Hebrides. In winter time it extends its range further south, and may be found on 

 the coasts of Denmark, Germany, and Holland, as well as upon the shores of Great Britain. Its 

 habitat may be said to stretch from 6o° to 70 north latitude. The Red-throated Diver is 

 common on the shores of Great Britain and Ireland in the winter season, and about the mouth 

 of the Thames is known by the name of the Sprat Loon, on account of its following the shoals 

 of sprats. It remains during winter to breed in Scotland, frequenting the inland Highland lakes, 

 as well as the Orkney, Hebrides, and Shetland Islands. The neatly-made nest is placed near the 

 margin of the water, sometimes on the bare beach, and sometimes among herbage, and is formed 

 of such plants and leaves as are easily procurable. The eggs, usually two in number, are of an 

 elongated oval shape, brown in colour, and dotted with dark amber-brown. The male remains near the 

 nest, and is said occasionally to assist in brooding. When an intruder approaches, the female continues 

 to sit till her foe is close at hand, when she starts oft", plunges into the water, and usually flies oft" or 

 sometimes swims anxiously about in company with her mate ; if deprived of their eggs the leud 

 lamentations of the parents may be heard for several evenings ; the notes are harsh, and, according to 

 Macgillivray, resemble those of the Gannet. The young take to the water as soon as they leave the egg, 

 and continue with their parents until able to use their wings, when all fly oft" to the sea. Mr. Low, in 

 his " Natural History of Orkney," says, " This bird continues with us the whole season, builds on the 

 very edge of a lake in the hills of Hay, and lays two eggs ; its nest is placed so that it can slip from it into 

 the water, as it can neither stand nor move on land, but can make very quick way at sea ; flies well, 

 vol. iv. — 150 



