659 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 
This species seldom visits the shores of Britain, except in very se- _ 
vere winters; but it is met with in the 1orth of Europe, and spreads 
along the Arctic coast as far as the mouth of the River Ob, in the do- 
minions of Russia. It is found about Spitzbergen, Iceland, and Hud- 
son’s Bay. Makes its nest, in the more northern regions, on the little 
isles of fresh-water lakes: every pair keep a lake to themselves. It 
sees well, flies very high, and, darting obliquely, falls secure into its 
nest. Appears in Greenland in April, or the beginning of May, and 
goes away in September, or October, on the first fall of snow.* It is 
also found at Nootka Sound,t and Kamtschatka. 
The Barabinzians —a nation situated betwéen the River Ob and 
the Irtisch, in the Russian dominions —tan the breasts of this and 
other water fowl, whose skins they prepare in such a manner as to 
preserve the down upon them; and, sewing a number of these togeth- 
er, they sell them to make pelisses, caps, &c. Garments made of. 
these are very warm, never imbibing the least moisture, and are more 
lasting than could be imagined.t 
The natives of Greenland use the skins for clothing, and the Indians 
about Hudson’s Bay adorn their heads’ with circlets of their feathers.§ 
Lewis and Clark’s party, at the mouth of the Columbia, saw robes 
made of the skins of Loons,|| and abundance of these birds, during the 
time that they wintered at Fort Clatsop, on that river.1-. 
The Laplanders, according to Regnard, cover their heads with a 
cap made of the skin of a Loom, (Loon,) which word signifies, in their 
language, lame, because the bird cannot walk well. They place it on 
their head in such a manner that the bird’s head falls over their brow, 
and its wings cover their ears. : 
“Northern Divers,” says Hearne, though common in Hudson’s Bay, 
are by no means plentiful; they are seldom found near the coast, but 
more frequently in fresh-water lakes, and usually in pairs. They 
build their nests at the edge of small islands, or the margins of lakes 
or ponds ; they lay only two eggs; and it is. very common to find only 
one pair and their young in one sheet of water —a great proof of their 
aversion to society. They are known in Hudson’s Bay by the name 
of Loons.” ** : . 
The Great Northern Diver measures two feet ten inches from the 
tip of the bill to the end of the tail, and four feet six inches in breadth ; 
the bill is strong, of a glossy black, and four inches and three quarters 
long to the corner of the mouth; the edges of the bill do not fit ex- 
actly into each other, and are ragged ; the lower mandible separates 
into two branches, which are united by a thin, elastic membrane, and 
are easily movable horizontally, or receding from each other, so as to 
form a wider gap to facilitate the swallowing of large fish; tongue, 
bifid ; irides, dark blood red; the head, and half of the length of the 
neck, are of a deep black, with a green gloss, and purple reflections ; 
this is succeeded by a band consisting of interrupted white and 
black lateral stripes, which encompasses the neck, and tapers to a 
* PENNANT. t Coor’s Last Voyage, ii. p. 237, Am. ed. 
$ Laruam. § Arctic Zoology. || Gass’s Journal. 
{ History of the Expedition, vol. ii. p. 189. 
** HEARNE’s Journey, p. 429, quarto. 
