DIVING BIRDS 
(Divers, Auks and Grebes) 
The birds of this group, although they differ considerably, are sufficiently 
similar in appearance to warrant considering them in one group. 
They are all aquatic birds of medium or large size, ranging in length 
from the little auk, less than a foot long, to the great northern diver, which 
attains a length of three feet. The grebes fall between these two extremes, 
few exceeding twenty inches. In addition to being strong fliers, these birds 
are thoroughly adapted to life on the water. They are all expert divers and 
swimmers. They find travel on land cumbersome and resort to it only dur¬ 
ing the breeding season. Short legs placed far back and webbed or lobed 
toes are their distinguishing characteristics. Most of them have moderately 
long necks (some of the auks excepted), and the sharp-pointed bills so 
essential to fishing birds. 
The great northern divers are circumpolar in distribution and should 
not be considered game birds. As in the case of the wary grebes, they dive 
into the water at the very instant a gun-shot is heard, not to reappear until 
several minutes later at a safer distance. 
The spruce and stocky little Arctic auks resemble the Antarctic pen¬ 
guins more than they do their immediate relatives, the divers. Like the 
penguins, they wear the formal dark jacket and white vest, and stand erect. 
The grebes, in contrast to the auks, spend the greater portion of their 
lives in freshwater lakes. It is only during the winter months that they 
take to the open sea. The webbed feet typical of the aquatic birds are 
lacking in the grebes. Their toes are flattened into broad and unconnected 
lobes, each lobe terminating in a wide, flat nail. In swimming under water, 
they propel themselves with powerful strokes of their lobed feet, their 
wings lying flat at their sides. Any of these birds, however, may use their 
wings in swimming. 
Divers: Great Northern Diver. 
Auks: Little Auk. 
Grebes: Western Grebe. 
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