616 



marked with round white spots ; quills and tail black ; underparts white, the flanks black ; bill bluish 

 black, lighter at the base ; iris nut-brown ; outer portion of the tarsus, the hind toe and outer toe, and 

 two marks across the web blackish brown with a greenish tinge ; the inner side of the tarsus reddish 

 white ; webs white with a warm reddish tinge from the blood showing through. Total length about 

 26 inches, culmen 2'6, wing 11% tail 25, tarsus 2'9. 



Young, Crown and hind neck ashy grey, brown on the sides of the head ; upper parts of the body dull 

 blackish brown, the feathers on the back edged with lighter brownish white margins ; chin, throat, and 

 entire underparts white, sides of the lower throat and breast striped with black ; bill and feet lighter 

 than in the adult dress. 



Adult in autumn. Closely resembles the young bird, but has the bill darker, the grey on the crown and hind 

 neck is clearer and brighter, the sides of the lower throat and breast are more clearly striped, and the 

 upper parts of the body are darker. 



Like that of the Red-throated Diver the range of this bird is very extended ; for it is found 

 throughout the northern portion of both the old and new continents during the summer season, 

 migrating southward in winter. In the British Isles it is found at all seasons of the year, and 

 breeds in Scotland. On the English coasts it occurs but sparingly, during cold weather, and is met 

 with from the shore of the Channel up to the north coasts of England. Mr. Cecil Smith informs 

 me that he himself never met with it in Guernsey ; but M c Couch, the bird-stuffer, obtained one 

 there in January 1875. In Somersetshire, Mr. Smith informs me, it has, so far as he knows, only 

 once occurred. The specimen in question was an adult bird slightly changing to winter plumage, 

 and was killed near Williton, on Lady Egremont's property, in December 1875. Williton is some 

 distance inland ; but the country was much flooded at the time. Mr. Cordeaux says that it is 

 not uncommon off the Flamborough coast during severe winters. In Scotland, according to 

 Mr. Robert Gray (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 414), many pairs " take up their summer quarters on 

 various lochs on the mainland in Argyllshire, Perthshire, Inverness-shire, Ross-shire, and 

 Sutherlandshire ; and on almost every loch in the Outer Hebrides there are to be found one or 

 two pairs breeding. In Lewis they may be seen on Loch Langhabat and similar sheets of water ; 

 and in North Uist I know of at least five different lakes where they breed. Benbecula can 

 likewise boast of several breeding-stations. I have seen both old and young birds there in 

 September." Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown also, writing on the ornithology of Sutherland, says, 

 the present species " is perhaps more plentiful in the south-western portion of Sutherland than 

 elsewhere in the county, becoming very scarce northward in Edderachyllis, and north-eastward 

 through the rest of the country. In both these directions it gives place to the Red-throated 

 Diver. I consider that in the west the proportion of C. arcticus is about three to one of 

 C. septentrionalis ; and in the north-east this is as nearly as possible reversed. Taking the 

 county as a whole, the two species are about equal in number." In Ireland it is very rare; 

 for Thompson cites but two instances of its capture, though he adds that it has been seen on 

 several occasions. 



I do not find it recorded from either Greenland or Iceland ; and Captain Feilden says that 

 it has only once occurred in the Faeroes, but it is very common in Scandinavia. Mr. Collett 

 informs me that it breeds throughout Norway, though in rather smaller numbers than Colymbus 



