448 . VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



pointed out to Mr. Leavers a large Colymbus crossing over 

 Carlisle at a great height, flying from N.E. to S.W. Within a 

 week there arrived information that a bird of this species had 

 appeared on one of the smaller lakes. This Diver moults late 

 in the year, a fact which perhaps explains the occasional appear- 

 ance of stragglers in Lakeland during the summer. The Eden 

 has been more often visited by this Diver than any other of our 

 rivers. An example was shot near Bolton Bridge, Westmor- 

 land, on the 1st of November 1848. An undated scrap of T. C. 

 Heysham records that ' on Tuesday last ' a man belonging to 

 Rickergate killed a young Great Northern Diver on the Eden a 

 little above Eden Bridge at Carlisle. In the extreme west of 

 Lakeland specimens have been recorded from Wastwater by 

 Dr. Parker. The Great Northern Diver appears to occur only 

 irregularly in the immediate neighbourhood of Morecambe Bay. 

 Mr. Durnford reported a bird killed near Barrow in December 

 1876. Two were killed in the channel between Barrow and 

 Walney in the severe winter 1890-91. This Diver very seldom 

 visits the English side of the Solway Firth. Mr. W. Nicol 

 wrote on December 7, 1889 : 'I am glad to tell you that on 

 Wednesday the 5th inst. I saw for the first time a Great 

 Northern Diver. Law and I chased it in our punts for, I think, 

 a mile and a half, but could not get nearer than a hundred and 

 fifty yards or so. There was diving along with it a Red-throated 

 Diver. When both went under, the Great Northern stayed 

 twice as long under water, and went twice the distance. We 

 chased it near to the point, hoping he would not take wing, but 

 when he saw we were driving him into narrower quarters, after 

 a careful survey of the situation, he got under weigh and flew 

 away to the westward.' On the 3d of September 1890 I 

 watched a Great Northern Diver diving and swimming down 

 the channel near Port Carlisle. Wading out into the ebbing 

 tide I watched the bird for ten or twelve minutes. It swam 

 nearly submerged, but occasionally raised itself up in the water, 

 when the white breast became visible. It was in summer 

 plumage, and quite alone. Greenwood told me that he had 

 seen two strange Divers going up with the flood-tide, but I only 

 saw a single bird returning with the ebb. It constantly swam 



