272 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



Kettering, who obligingly informed me by letter of 

 the occurrence, but called the bird a " Great Northern 

 Diver." I was naturally anxious to be assured of 

 a genuine occurrence of the latter bird in our county, 

 and therefore wrote at once to the Rev. H. H. Slater, 

 then rector of Irchester, who was good enough to 

 visit Kettering and inspect the specimen at once, and 

 wrote informing me that it was a fine specimeu of 

 C. septentrionalis in winter dress. On April 5, 1891, 

 I heard from Mr. W. Tomalin that a male Red- 

 throated Diver had been shot by Mr. J. Allen at 

 Woodford Mill on March 24 of same year; I 

 wrote to Mr. Allen about this bird, and am satisfied 

 as to correct identification in this instance. This is 

 by far the most common of the Diver family upon 

 our coasts, and its visits to inland waters in England 

 during the winter and early spring are by no means 

 uncommon, whilst in certain parts of Scotland it 

 breeds in considerable numbers. As regards Ireland, 

 I find, in the 4th edition of Yarrell, that " it appears 

 possible that a few pairs breed in Donegal," but 

 I have reason to believe that Donegal is by no means 

 the only county in Ireland in which this bird may at 

 least be found throughout the summer months. I 

 have never had the good fortune to see a nest of this 

 bird, although I am convinced that I have been very 

 near to one. In most respects the nesting-habits 

 of the Red-throated are said to resemble closely those 

 of the Black-throated Diver ; but it seems that the 

 present species is less given to select islands as 

 breeding-places than the larger bird, and is often 

 to be found nesting upon the banks of small pools 

 in solitary moorlands, whence long aerial journeys 

 are necessary to obtain daily provender. The eggs 

 are two in number, of the same character as those 



