BRITISH BIRDS. 
lOI 
darker brown : the fecondaries and tertials are very 
long : the infide of the wings are dufky, edged with 
white grey ; and the infide coverts next the body 
are curioufly barred, from the ihaft of each feather 
to their edges, with narrow white lines, formed 
nearly of the fliape of two fides of a triangle. The 
belly, vent, tail coverts,' and tail, are white; the 
laft broadly barred with black, the middle feathers 
having four bars, and thofe next to them decreafing 
in the number of bars towards the outfide feathers, 
which are quite plain : the legs are green. * 
This bird is not any where numerous, and is of 
a folitary difpolition, feldom more than a pair being 
feen together, and that chiefly in the breeding fea- 
fon. It is a fcarce bird in England, but is faid to 
be more common in the northern parts of the globe, 
even as far as Iceland. It is reported that they ne- 
ver frequent the fea-fliores, but their places of abode 
are commonly on the margins of the lakes in the 
interior and mountainous parts of the country. 
