GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 
I8l 
almost incredible depth, and, instead of rising near the antici- 
pated spot, apjiear quietly swimming away far out of shot 
seaward. In smooth water, a boat and its moving shadow can 
be seen from beneath the surface of the water for a consider- 
able distance, and hence the bird is most frequently dodged 
and shot during a breeze. The instant it perceives itself 
threatened with danger, it either sinks the body low in the 
water or entirely disappears, seldom emerging before it has 
traversed a distance of a hundred yards, or perhaps even five 
times that space, according to its idea of the extent of the 
danger. When once it has become thoroughly alarmed, 
further jjursuit is generally hopeless, unless it happens to 
the track of the boat, as it will do occasionally, instead of 
proceedin^’^ in a line directly from it. When the bird chooses 
any other course than its favourite one, directly to the wind- 
ward, a boat under sail in a stiff breeze will sometimes overtake 
it, but such a chance is rarely met wdth. Hefore its habits 
were so well known to me as they are now, 1 used to pursue 
it in a four-oared boat, but always unsuccessfully ; lately, how- 
ever, I have been able to get within range with a single pair 
of oars, but with a boat more manageable than those of the 
ordinary kind. As the boat approaches at first, the Diver 
sinks the body very low— so low, indeed, that the water coveis 
the holloiv of the neck ; and the chances are that, when fired 
at, it will escape by diving, unless the favourable inonient be 
selected when the bird submerges the head, or turns it aside, 
or rises to flap its wings. I have once seen it take wing imme- 
diately on being shot at, and on many occasions after emerging 
from a dive taken to avoid a shot. At any time it rises with 
great difficulty, and in calm weather especially is very awkward, 
splashing along the surface with wings and feet for a hundred 
yards or more, the attempt, as often as not, resulting in a 
return to its more natural element. The mode in which this 
bird dives cannot be easily explained in words. I have 
watched it most carefully, but always with an unsatisfactory 
result ; it merely gives a slight start, if my meaning may be 
so expressed, and disappears in an instant. When wounded 
in such a manner as to be disabled from diving, it is a very 
awkward bird to handle. It will allow a boat to run close up 
without displaying any sign of activity ; but the moment a 
