CHAPTER III 



Diving-birds, Petrels, and Penguins 



ORDERS— PYGOPODES, TUBINARES, 

 AND IMPENNES 



The birds which form the subject of this chapter 

 are all aquatic in their habits, and feed upon fish. 



THE DIVING BIRDS 



THESE are divided into two groups: Sea Divers, 

 or Loons, and Fresh-water Divers, or Grebes. 

 The largest of the Sea Divers is the Black- 

 throated Diver, or Loon. This bird breeds in Ice- 

 land, Greenland, and the Fur Countries of North 

 America, as far west as the Great Slave Lake. It 

 lays two eggs, olive-brown in colour, spotted with 

 black, any convenient place on the ground near the 

 water's edge serving for a nest. See Plate 39, Fig. 

 231. 



Though these birds are commonly called Sea 

 Divers, they show great preference for fresh water, 

 breeding and passing the summer months in inland 

 waters. During the winter, however, they retreat to 

 the sea, and there disperse along the coast. This 

 migration is probably due to the necessity of keeping 

 to open water, for, being entirely dependent upon 

 fish for their subsistence, severe frosts immediately cut . 



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