of the same nest very unequal in size; the larger generally three inches in length and an inch and eleven-
twelfths in breadth. They are o f a deep or pale olive-brown, or dull greenish-brown, or pale brownish-green
colour, spotted and dotted with umber, mostly at the larger end. The male continues with the female, and
is said to take his place on the eggs occasionally. The female continues to sit crouching over her eggs
until you come very near, when she starts forward, plunges into the water, and, on emerging, usually takes
to wing, but sometimes swims about with great anxiety, as does the male also, should he happen to be
present. On being deprived of their eggs, they may be heard for several evenings lamenting their loss
with loud melancholy cries. The usual notes are harsh, and somewhat resemble those of the Gannet. The
young betake themselves to the water soon after birth, and continue there, under the guidance of their
parents, until they are able to fly, when they all wing their way to the sea. The eggs are laid in the
beginning o f June, and the young fledged by the middle o f August.
“ This bird is less addicted than the Great Northern Diver to fishing close to the margin o f the sea, by
far the greater number keeping well out in the firths and lochs, and many frequenting the open sea at a
great distance from land. In the breeding-season, when on freshwater lakes, it is extremely vigilant and
suspicious, swims off to the opposite side, with elevated head, when any one appears even at a distance, and
cannot be shot without much trouble. I have seen it caught on one o f the hooks o f a fishing-line, baited
with a sand-eel, and it is sometimes entangled in the herring- and salmon-nets. It is very tenacious o f life,
and, although severely wounded, commonly escapes, as it can easily outstrip a boat.”
To this I may append the following note, obligingly communicated to me by Mr. H. Stevenson, of
Norwich, on the occurrence o f the bird in Norfolk—a county which, being washed by the sea, has many
localities suited to its habits, though not for breeding-places.
“ The Red-throated Diver is both an annual and, in some seasons, a pretty numerous visitant in autumn
and winter, following the shoals o f herrings along our coast with great pertinacity. Both young and
old birds are obtained on the coast, as well as on the Broads, between the first week o f October and the
end o f February, but, judging from my own notes o f some thirty specimens, much less frequently on
fresh inland waters than the Black-throated species. From frequent opportunities o f examining examples
of this bird, I cannot help concluding that its summer dress is both retained and reassumed later than in
either o f the other species, and that the specimens mentioned by Audubon as having red throats in February
had not then lost the plumage of the previous summer. Whenever these birds appear very early in autumn,
say from the first to the third week of October, some few birds are sure to exhibit the red throat as
perfect as it is during the breeding-season, and others in every state o f change occur at the same time;
but I have never observed any traces o f red in specimens shot in November or any later period.
“ It is only occasionally, however, that these birds appear early enough to present their full summer dress;
and this was particularly the case in the autumn o f 1862, when a most unusual number o f these birds
appeared off our coast, occasioned by the extraordinary shoals o f herring at the time. Several very beautiful
specimens were sent to a bird-stuffer in the City, from whom I purchased one, now in my collection, as
perfect an example o f this species in nuptial dress as I ever saw in collections from high northern localities-
More than a dozen were shot at this time, in the course o f a week or two, off the Sherringham beach,
one of which, being held up by the legs, disgorged sixteen young herrings from its capacious t h r o a t . '
The Plate represents an adult and two newly hatched young, o f the size o f life. The plant is the common
Juniper (Juníperas communis, Linn.).