Red-throated Diver.
Cahfmbus septentrionalis, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 220.
—I - strialus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 586.
- — stellatus, borealis, et Lumme, Brünn. Orn. Bor., nos. 130, 131,132.
septentrionalis, Lumme, et borealis, Brehm, Hanclb. der Naturg. aller ' Deutsch., pp. 976, 978, 979.
-----\ nifogularis, Meyer, Taschenb. Deutschl., tom. ii. p. 453.
Mergus minor, Briss. Orn., tom. vi. p. 108, pi. 10. fig. 2.
-gutture nibro, Briss. ibid., p. I l l , pi. 11. fig. 1.
Plotus claudicans, Scop. Ann. Hist.-Nat., tom. i. no. 93.
Eudytes septemtriontilis, 111. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 283. -
Cepphus septentrionalis, Pall. Zoogr. Ross.-Asiat., tom. ii. p. 342.
If a census o f the Colymln could he taken, it would probably be found that the individuals o f this species
far exceed in mimber those of the other members o f this truly northern form, since the bird is distributed
far and wide, from tlié most northern regions that have been explored to the latitude o f the Mediterranean,
south o f which its appearance must be regarded as accidental. Ou our own seas and in all the inlets and
bays o f our coasts it is to he found at one season or the other; in like manner it frequents the inland tarns
and deep fjords of Norway, Lapland, Sweden, and Iceland, goes as far north as Spitsbergen and Nova Zembla,
and also inhabits Davis’s Straits, Baffin’s Bay, and Greenland. In the inland lochs o f these countries, as
well as in many o f our own, it breeds and spends the summer months, feeding as readily upon trouts and
other fish o f the fresh water as it does when at sea upon those o f the ocean. At this season the bird is in
its finest dress; the sun is now at the zenith, and all nature smilingly bows to his benign influence. Soon
after this period the feathers become worn and abraded ; and although the faded plumage is carried until
the end o f July or the beginning o f August, a moult gradually takes place, and, by the time the birds which
have bred have conducted their young to the salt waters, many new white feathers have appeared on the
throat and neck, and in an incredibly short time the winter garb is assumed- * With the assumption of
its new livery, the bird commences its usual mode of life in its winter quarters : instead o f among lacustrine
plants, it now fishes over beds o f kelp and beautiful corallines (where they occur) ; while the young betake
themselves to saud-bauks, bays, and the sheltered inlets which indent the coast, and gradually accustom
themselves to the sea; for at first they are, o f course, more feeble than the adults, and less capable
of resisting the turbulence o f the waves. At this period they are carrying their speckled plumage above,
with a snow-white under surface, their general appearance being very similar to, but prettier or more
sjwi.gh-d with white than that o f the adult. In all probability, when these youthful birds assume the red
th ro a t . a grey neck for the first time, they put on these hues earlier in the year than those which bave bred.
If this view be the correct one, it may account for our finding individuals thus coloured at a period when we
do not expect h indeed I cannot assign any other reason for this seeming precocity. At all seasons,
whether it be that o f spring, when the fully adult birds have red throats, grey cheeks, and striated manes, or
-that of winter, when they aw hmwn and white, the sexes are alike. The young at first are clothed with a
thick, nearly black, hairy down ; m the next state the feathers o f the upper surface are brown-spangled,
and streaked with white. In som«- the specimens bearing these spangled feathers are also adorned
with red throats ; but I have skins in which this red mark is clear and well defined, while the stellations o f
the back are entirely absent : these latter are doubtless very old bird*
Of the occurrence o f this bird in the Brirish Mnnd« it wi» hr. q*»* unnecessary for me to say a word for
the information o f professed oreiifeohugists ; hat I may st*tr to those who do not pay such close attention
to the subject, that it breeds on many o f the inland waters of Scotland and Ireland, and the Hebrides
or Western Islands.
“ In the end o f spring,” says Macgillivray, “ the Red-throated Divers, having paired, retire northward,
the greater number probably betaking themselves to the Arctic Regions, although very many remain to breed
bv the inland lakes of the Highlands, Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland Islands.’ In Lewis, Uist, and Benbecuia,
which are singularly intersected by arms o f the sea, and covered with pools and lakes, great numbers are seen
during the breeding-season. The sea being at hand, they usually fish there, returning at intervals to the lakes
until incubation has commenced. The nest is placed on an island or tuft, or amoug the herbage m
margin, or even on the stony beach o f a lake or pool, and is composed of grass, sedge, and heath, or other
easily procured plants, generally in small quantity, and neatly put together. The eggs, in so far »< i am aware,
are always two ; but it is stated that three frequently occur. They are of an elongated-oval torin, the two