GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. IIT 
Hudson’s Bay, are by no means plentiful; they are seldom 
found near the coast, but more frequently in fresh-water lakes, 
and usually in pairs. They build their nests at the edge of 
small islands, or the margins of lakes or ponds; they lay only 
two eges, and it is very common to find only one pair and 
their young in one sheet of water; a great proof of their 
aversion to society. ‘They are known in Hudson’s Bay by the 
name of loons.” * 
The great northern diver measures two feet ten inches from 
the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, and four feet six 
inches in breadth ; the bill is strong, of a glossy black, and 
four inches and three-quarters long to the corner of the mouth ; 
the edges of the bill do not fit exactly into each other, and are 
ragged, the lower mandible separates into two branches, which 
are united by a thin elastic membrane, and are easily movable 
horizontally, or receding from each other, so as to form a wider 
gap to facilitate the swallowing of large fish; tongue, bifid ; 
irides, dark blood red ; the head and half of the length of the 
neck are of a deep black with a green gloss, and purple reflec- 
tions ; this is succeeded by a band consisting of interrupted 
white and black lateral stripes, which encompasses the neck, 
and tapers to a peint on its fore part, without joining,—this 
band measures about an inch and a half in its widest part, and, 
to appearance, 1s not continuous on the back part of the neck, 
being concealed by some thick, overhanging, black feathers, 
but, on separating the latter, the band becomes visible: the 
feathers which form these narrow stripes are white, streaked 
down their centre with black, and, what is a remarkable pecu- 
liarity, their webs project above the common surface ; below 
this, a broad band of dark glossy green and violet, which is 
blended behind with the plumage of the back ; the lower part 
of the neck, and the sides of the breast, are ribbed in the same 
manner as the band above; below the chin, a few stripes of 
the same ; the whole of the upper parts are of a deep black, 
slightly glossed with green, and thickly spotted with white, in 
* Hearne’s Journey, p. 429, 4to. 
