112 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 
recular transverse or semicircular rows, two spots on the end 
of each feather—those on the upper part of the back, shoulders, 
rump, and tail-coverts, small and roundish, those on the 
centre of the back, square and larger ; those on the scapulars 
are the largest, and of an oblong,;square shape; the wing- 
feathers and tail are plain brown black, the latter composed 
of twenty feathers ; the lower parts are pure white, a slight 
dusky line across the vent; the scapulars descend over the 
wing when closed, and the belly feathers ascend so as to meet 
them, by which means every part of the wing is concealed, 
except towards the tip; the outside of the legs and feet is 
black, inside, lead colour; the leg is four inches in length, and 
the foot measures, along the exterior toe to the tip of its claw, 
four inches and three-quarters ; both legs and feet are marked 
with five-sided polygons; weight of the specimen described, 
eight pounds and a half. 
The female diver is somewhat less than the male; the bill 
is yellowish ; crown, back part of the neck, and whole upper 
parts, pale brown ; the plumage of part of the back and scapu- 
lars is tipt with pale ash; the throat, lower side of the neck, 
and whole under parts, are white, but not so pure as that of 
the male, having a yellowish tinge; the quill-feathers, dark 
brown. She has no appearance of bands on her neck, or of 
spots on her body. 
The young males do not obtain their perfect plumage until 
the second or third year. One which we saw, and which was 
conjectured to be a yearling, had some resemblance to the 
female, with the exception of its upper parts being of a darker 
and purer brown, or mouse colour, and its under parts of a 
more delicate white; it had likewise a few spots on the back 
and scapulars; but none of those markings on the neck which 
distinguish the full-grown male. 
The conformation of the ribs and bones of this species is 
remarkable, and merits particular examination. 
In the account which some of the European ornithologists 
vive of their northern diver, we presume there is an inaccu- 
3 
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