IIO GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 
This species seldom visits the shores of Britain, except in 
very severe winters ; but it is met with in the north of Europe, 
and spreads along the arctic coast as far as the mouth of the 
river Ob, in the dominions of Russia. It is found about Spitz- 
bergen, Iceland, and Hudson’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 + and Kamtschatka. 
The Barabinzians, a nation situated between the river Ob 
and the Irtisch, in the Russian dominions, tan the breasts of 
this and other waterfowl, whose skins they prepare in such 
a manner as to preserve the down upon them, and, sewing a 
number of these together, 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. f 
The natives of Greenland use the skins for clothing, and 
the Indians about Hudson’s Bay adorn their heads with cir- 
clets 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.4 
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 
* Pennant. t+ Cook’s Last Voyage, vol. ii. p. 237, Am. ed. 
t Latham. § Arctic Zoology. || Gass’s Journal. 
“| History of the Expedition, vol. ii. p. 189. 

