red-throated diver. 
I9I 
particular, for it seldom, if ever, procures its food in the small 
^°'‘‘As\^rute these pools are devoid of trout, and consequently^ 
though one of the birds may frequently be seen swnnmm^ 
about while the other is engaged m hatching the eggs, all 
Sh are procured in the Lge lochs which are sometimes a 
considerable distance away. _ Like the rest of its k , 
l?ed throated Diver cannot rise very quickly from the water, 
but fla, ralong the surface for some distance before it gams 
Scient topetus to be able to fly. When once on the wmg 
and well under weigh, it travels at a great pace, the flight bein^ 
very Sch like that of a duck. If disturbed from their nest he 
birL circle for some time high over the loch, the male uttei n 
h is hoa seLy^ hork, kork, kork, kork, as he passes overhead, the 
sound !-Sing one soinewhat of that of an old cock Grouse. 
“It is marvellous how easily Divers may be overlooked on 
the water, especially when the surface is rough. I have often 
dassed a lock carefully from a distance of about a quarter of a 
mile and been able to make out nothing, but on a nearer 
approach have found it to be tenanted 
The keen vision of these birds evidently enables them to si^ 
any suspicious object at a considerable distance, and we piov ed 
this to our satisfaction in the summer of 96. A hen sittin^ 
on her nest at a distance of several hundred yards, tnstant y 
detected an incautious movement of the top of my head, 
which was the only part of my body visible. , , , ^ 
“It may be worth while to add that a thoroughly tmsD 
worthy keeper in Sutherland assures me that a pair of Ked- 
throated Db-ers, which we had watched together in the ear y 
summer of 1896, eventually bred among the /'f ^ 
venient distance from the nearest pool. The shells of the two 
eees were not found by him until the young birds had hatched 
off and were seen swimming, with the pments, in^the loch haid 
by There is every reason to believe this keeper s story, for he 
has known these Divers and their ways all his life, and had 
been trying hard to find the nest of this particular pair. 1 
these birds really bred on land, and I have no reason to doubt 
the fact, the question is. How did they manage to alight on 
the ground, and, more wmnderful still, when once there, o\ 
did they manage to get on the wing ? ” 
