214 
GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 
except towards the tip ; the outside of the legs and feet is 
black, inside, lead colour ; the leg is four inches in length, and 
the foot measures, along the exterior toe to the tip of its claw, 
four inches and three quarters ; both legs and feet are marked 
with five-sided polygons ; weight of the specimen described, 
eight pounds and a half. 
The female diver is somewhat less than the male ; the bill 
is yellowish ; crown, back part of the neck, and whole upper 
parts, pale brown ; the plumage of part of the back and scapulars 
is tipt with pale ash ; the throat, lower side of the neck, and 
whole under parts, are white, but not so pure as that of the 
male, having a yellowish tinge ; the quill feathers, dark brown. 
She has no appearance of bands on her neck, or of spots on 
her body. 
The young males do not obtain their perfect plumage until 
the second or third year. One which we saw, and which was 
conjectured to be a yearling, had some resemblance to the 
female, with the exception of its upper parts being of a darker 
and purer brown, or mouse colour, and its under parts of a 
more delicate white ; it had likewise a few spots on the back 
and scapulars ; but none of those markings on the neck which 
distinguish the full-grown male. 
The conformation of the ribs and bones of this species is 
remarkable, and merits particular examination. 
, In the account which some of the European ornithologists 
give of their northern diver, we presume there is an inaccu- 
racy. They say it measures three feet six inches in length, 
and four feet eight in breadth, and weighs sixteen pounds. If 
this be a correct statement, it would lead to the surmise that 
our diver is a different species ; for, of several specimens which 
we examined, the best and largest has been described for this 
work ; the admeasurement of which bird comes considerably 
short of that of the European mentioned above. The weight, 
as has been stated, was eight pounds and a half. 
According to Temminck, the adult male and female are 
alilte in plumage. All the females which have passed under 
