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BLACK-THROATED DIVER. 



Colymbus Arctictjs, Linn. 

 PLATE CCCCLXXVIL— Male, Female, and Young. 



One of the most remarkable circumstances relative to this beautiful bird, 

 which is intermediate between the Red-throated Diver and the Loon, is the 

 extraordinary extent to which the wanderings of the young are carried in 

 autumn and winter. It breeds in the remote regions of the north, from 

 which many of the old birds, it would seem, do not remove far, while the 

 young, as soon as they are able to travel, take to wing and disperse, 

 spreading not only over the greater part of the United States, but beyond 

 their south-western limits. In Texas I saw individuals of this species as 

 late as the middle of April 1S37; and I find it enumerated in a list of the 

 birds observed by Mr. J. K. Townsend on the Columbia river, where he 

 also met with Colymbus glacialis. Its ramblings over a considerable 

 portion of northern and eastern Europe have equally been noted, and it has 

 been found breeding in the extreme north of Scotland. 



For many years I knew the young of this bird only by the name "Imber 

 Diver," applied by Bewick to that of another species, and now have 

 pleasure in looking upon a drawing of mine, made about thirty years ago, 

 with that appellation attached to it. Very few old birds in full plumage have 

 been procured within the limits of the United States, and none, in as far as I 

 know, farther south than the Capes of Delaware. 



No sooner has the foliage of the trees that border our western waters 

 begun to drop and float on the gentle current of the fair Ohio, than the Black- 

 throated Diver makes its appearance there, moving slowly with the stream. 

 The Mississippi, Missouri, and their tributaries, are at the same period 

 supplied with these birds. Along our eastern and southern shores they are 

 seen from the end of autumn until spring. 



Whilst in Labrador, I saw a few pairs courting on wing, much in the 

 manner of the Red-throated Diver; but all our exertions failed to procure 

 any of the nests, which I therefore think must have been placed farther 

 inland than those of the Loon or Red-throated Diver. I observed however, 

 that in their general habits they greatly resemble those species, for on 

 alighting on the water, they at once immerse their bills, as if for the purpose 



