296 BLACK-THROATED DIVER. 



of ascertaining whether it yields a supply of suitable food, and afterwards 

 raise themselves and beat their wings. 



This species has almost as powerful a flight as the Great Northern Diver 

 or Loon, and I think shoots through the air with even greater velocity. 

 When flying it moves its wings rapidly and continuously, and has the neck 

 and feet stretched out to their full length. I well recollect that while I was 

 standing near the shore of a large inlet in South Carolina, one of these birds, 

 being shot while passing over my head at full speed, did not, on account of 

 the impetus, reach the ground until upwards of twenty yards beyond me. 

 They are equally expert at diving, and fully as much so in eluding the 

 pursuit of their enemies when wounded. I saw my friend Mr. Harris 

 bring down one from on wing, on which Napoleon Coste, and William 

 Taylor, captains of the revenue cutter and tender of which we had the use, 

 paddled in pursuit of it in a light canoe; but, although they advanced with 

 all the address of Indians, they proved unsuccessful, for after following it 

 both in the Bay of Cayo Island, and in the Gulf of Mexico, for nearly an 

 hour, they were obliged to return without it, having found it apparently not 

 in the least fatigued, although it had dived sufficiently often to travel above 

 two miles, shifting its course at each immersion. It is curious to observe 

 how carefully these birds avoid the danger of sudden storms or heavy gales. 

 On such occasions, I have seen Divers at once seek the lee of rocks, islands, 

 or artificial embankments, where they could not only remain in security, but 

 also procure their accustomed food. At other times, when striving against 

 the tempest, they dive headlong from on wing, and are sure to reappear in 

 the smooth parts which sailors term the trough. 



I once caught one of these birds on the Ohio, it having been incapacitated 

 from diving by having swallowed a large mussel, which stuck in its throat. 

 It was kept for several days, but refused food of every kind, exhibited much 

 bad humour, struck with its bill, and died of inanition. The food of this 

 species consists of fish, aquatic reptiles, testaceous mollusca, and all sorts of 

 small crustaceous animals. Its flesh resembles that of the Loon, and is 

 equally unfit to be eaten. 



The eggs, which are sometimes two, more frequently three, avera j;e three 

 inches in length, by two in their greatest breadth, which is about a thud of 

 the whole length distant from the extremity. Their form is that of the 

 Red-throated Diver, which however they exceed in size. The shell is rather 

 thick, the surface roughish, the ground colour chocolate tinged with olive, 

 sparinglv spotted at the larger end with ver}' dark umber and black, and 

 sprinkled all over with very small dots of the same colour. 



I have represented an adult male, a female, and a young bird. 



