186 
THE RED-THROATED DIVER. 
evidently conveys to their offspring their wish that they should remain quiet 
in their hiding places. 
The Red-throated Diver does not acquire the full beauty of its plumage 
until its fourth year. The young are at first covered with thick hairy down, 
of a blackish colour, inclining to brown. Before they are fully able to fly, 
this is changed into a dull grey on the upper parts, thickly sprinkled with 
white dots on the extremity of each feather, the lower parts being of a sul- 
lied white. During the second .year these tints are firmer, there are fewer 
spots, and the texture of the lower parts is more silky. In the third, both 
sexes assume the firfe grey of the hind neck, with its longitudinal white 
stripes, and here and there a few spots of red on the lower part of the throat. 
The next spring their plumage is perfect. 
I have never observed any of these birds on our inland lakes or rivers. 
In the neighbourhood of Boston, and along the Bay of Fundy, they are best 
known by the names of “ Scape-grace” and “ Cape-racer.” By the 9th of 
August the young birds had left the fresh-water lakes and ponds for the 
bays on the coast, and we were informed by the settlers, both in Newfound- 
land and Labrador, that, by the last days of September, none were to be 
found in those countries. 
The dislike which this species shews to fresh-water after the breeding 
season is such, that they are rarely seen in the upper part of large bays, but 
prefer for their winter residence the shores of sea-islands and barren rocks. 
Thus, at that season, they are met with about the outer islands of the Bay 
of Fundy and those along our eastern coast. 
While in fresh water, the Red-throated Diver feeds principally on small 
fish, shrimps, leeches, snails, and aquatic insects. The masses of feather, 
like substances often found in the stomachs of Grebes, I have never met with 
in this species. Its flesh is oily, tough, dark-coloured, and disagreeable to 
the taste, although I saw some mountain Indians feeding upon it at Labra- 
dor with apparent pleasure. 
Coltmbus septentrionalis, Bonap. Syn , p. 421. 
Red-throated Diver, Colymbus septentrionalis , Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., 
vol. ii. p. 416. 
Red-throated Diver, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 519. 
Red-throated Diver, Colymbus septentrionalis , Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 20 ; 
vol. v. p. 625. 
Male, 19, 25. Female, 18, 24. 
Not uncommon during winter, autumn, and early spring, from Maryland 
eastward. Breeds in Newfoundland, Labrador, and as far north as the 
Arctic Seas. 
