94 
COBBLE. 
sidered the size as essential, may have made the young of the silvery 
and herring gulls, the Wagel ; all of which are mottled nearly in the 
same manner during the first two or three years. We have seen the 
young of this species with the dark colour appearing on the back. It is 
a great enemy to the fishermen ; and will tear and devour the largest 
from the hooks, when left dry by the ebbing tide.* 
COBBLE {Colymbus septentrionalis, Linn^us.) 
Colymbus septentrionalis, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 220. 3. — Gmel. Syst. 2. p. 586. — Ind. 
Orn. 2. p. 801. 5. — Temm. 2. p. 916. — Mergus gutture rubro, Brus. 6. p. 111. 
3. tc 11. f. 1. — Ib. 8vo. 2. p. 390. — Le Plongeon a gorge rouge, Buff. 8. p. 264. 
— Red-throated Diver, or Loon, Br. Zool. 2. No. 240. t. 85. — Ib. fob 140. — 
Arct. Zool. 2. No. 443. — Edw. t. 97. — Lath. Syn. 6. p. 344. 5. — Pult. Cat. 
Dorset, p. 17. — Wale. Syn. 1. t. 100. — Lewin, Br. Birds, 6. t. 230. ~ Don. Br. 
Birds, 4. t. 78. — Colymbus stellatus, Gmel. Syst. 2. p. 587. 17. — Ind. Orn. 2. 
p. 800. 3. — Maximus caudatusj Raii, Syn. p. 125. A. 4. ? — Will. p. 258. t. 
61. — Colymbus caudatus stellatus. Will. t. 62. — Mergus minor, Briss. 6. p. 108. 
2. t. 10. f. 2. — Ib. 8vo. 2. p. 389. — Colymbus striatus, Gmel. 1. p. 586. 16. — 
Striped Diver, Renn. Arct. Zool. 2. p. 519. 442. — Le petit Plongeon, Buff. 8. 
p. 254. t. 21. — Speckled Diver, or Loon, Br. Zool. 2. No, 239. — lb. fol. 139. t. 
K. — Arct. Zool. 2. No. 441. — Albin, 1. t. 82. — Lath. Syn. 6. p. 341. 3. — Pult. 
Cat. Dorset, p. 17. — TPa/c. Syn. 1. t. 101. — Lewin’s Br. Birds, 6. t. 228. — 
First Speckled Diver, Second ditto, Bewick, 2. p. 189. 191. 
Provincial. — Sprat-Loon. Greatest Speckled Diver. 
This species weighs about three pounds ; length near two feet and a 
half ; bill black, three inches long, and slender ; irides hazel. The head 
and upper part of the neck before, cinereous ; the rest of the neck, run- 
ning up behind almost to the head, is marked with longitudinal dusky 
and white lines ; on the throat is a patch of chestnut red ; the upper 
part of the body, wings and tail, dusky ; the feathers of the back and 
scapulars slightly margined with brown ; the under parts of the body 
white ; the sides under the wings and thighs streaked with dusky ; 
vent brown ; legs dusky on the outside, lighter within. 
The bird from which this description is taken, was killed at Hastings 
in Sussex, in the winter of 1795, at which time a great many were 
seen on that coast. 
This, like others of the genus, seems subject to some variety ; as we 
are informed some have the head and chin dotted with brown, and the 
chestnut mark on the throat extends farther on the neck. Whether 
this variety is occasioned by age or sex is not ascertained. 
This bird is said to breed in the northern parts of Scotland. In the 
breeding season it frequents the lakes, making a nest amongst the reeds 
and flags, and lays two eggs of an ash-colour, marked with a few black 
spots. It is found in most of the northern parts ; is common in Green- 
land and Iceland ; in the latter it is said to make its nest amongst the 
grass on the shores contiguous to the water, composed of moss and 
grass, and lined with down. 
