244 
BIRDS. 
of these birds. Very common in the west, where this 
species outnumbers the red-throated species ; in the north- 
east, however, the proportions appear to be reversed : it pre- 
fers large lochs with green islands for breeding purposes. 
In Dr. Pococke's Tour occurs the statement that Mr. 
Munro shot a bird of this (or the last ?) species at the upper 
end of the Kyle of Sutherland, which " was the only bird of 
the kind that had been seen at that time " (op. cit, p. 8). 
In comparison with the last named, this is a rare winter visitor 
to the Caithness coast (0. MSS., 1868). 
Eecorded as breeding in the county, and specimens 
obtained in the " flow " country, dating in May (Savile G. 
Eeid's Journals and other sources). 
Captain Savile Gr. Eeid aptly describes in his Journals 
a pretty and well-known habit of the divers, viz., that of 
lying over on one side on the water, and sometimes almost 
on their back, in order to preen the breast feathers with the 
bill. The nest now deposited by Captain S. G. Eeid and 
Major Irby in the British Museum, and taken in Caithness 
in 1886, had been slung upon a stick, and carried several 
miles over soft flow-land, a piece of work deserving of the 
fullest appreciation by the authorities, seeing that, to ensure 
the specimen being good and perfect, several pounds' weight 
of earth, or moss and peat, had to be cut out of the solid 
mother earth. 
375. Colymbus septentrionalis, L. Red -throated Diver. 
Summer visitant, but not nearly so abundant in the eastern 
districts as the last named ; getting more numerous towards 
the north-east and north, where their numbers are about 
three to one of the last-named species. We have received 
a good many eggs from the north-east, about Strathy and 
Farr. This species prefers mossy tarns with green edges 
for nesting purposes, and is rarely found breeding on the 
