escaped in Ihe month'of April, and though from the formation 
of their legs they are incapable of walking, and the construc- 
tion of their wings does not enable them to fly, they con- 
trived to drag, or rather push themselves forward, so as to 
reach the river ; the distance from it to the pond where they 
were confined, was several hundred yards ; that they made 
their escape that way we have no doubt, as two birds re- 
sembling them in colour were seen on the river in that 
neighbourhood for several days after these had left their 
confinement, and though repeatedly shot at, thejtconstantly 
escaped by diving. 
On the water these birds are all life and activity, being 
constantly diving or fluttering about in the pursuit of fisli, 
or of one another, but on land they loose all their activity, 
either standing perfectly erect as in our figure, or dragging 
themselves along on their bellies much in the manner of a 
seal. The quantity of fish this bird will consume is astonish- 
ing, the two above referred to devoured a bushel of sprats 
in less than twenty-four hours. 
This species but rarely breeds in Great Britain, a few are 
said occasionally to be found during the inbreeding season in 
the Orkney and Shetland Islands. Our specimen was shot 
in the month of March 1815, in the Firth of Forth, and 
though badly wounded survived its arrival in London ; the 
irides were, as represented in the accompanying plate, of a 
most brilliant gold colour, though described by authors as 
purple. 
