BLACK-TH BOATED DIVER,
and joined them, Hie whole malting oil in a straight line in the direction of Loch Shin. 1 remarked that
Black-throated Divers, when llyiug in company, always kept in line one behind another at regular intervals.
Whether these gatherings, winch were occasionally composed of ns many as fifteen or twenty birds, consisted
of those that had been robbed of their eggs or young, or had merely met together for the sake of company,
it BUS impossible to form an opinion, as possibly on my next visit to the loch on which they had been
observed only a single pair would he visible.
The Black-throated Diver nests early In the season ; I met with eggs almost on the point of hatching
on a small island iu a loch near the west coast of Ross-shiro on the 21st of May, lSoU A second
may possibly be sometimes reared; as late as July 7 in the same year I discovered two eggs on an
island in Loch t'raggie, a few miles to the cast of Lairg. In all probability, however, in this instance,
the bird had been rubbed of her eggs once or twice earlier in the season.
On the Norfolk Broads these Divers are now and then seen in immature plumage or while undergoing
the chango into the adult dress, and the same remarks also apply to the species in the channel ofT the
coast of Sussex. The old birds are seldom seen here in full plumage, though one specimen iu a remarkably
perfect state was observed off Sboreham in 18S3, so late as the Gtk of October.
Numbers of Divers, both Black- and Red-throated, were to he seen about the lochs in the Long Island
at the time of my visit iu May 1*77, and both species were found to be especially abundant about the
upper portion of Loch Sraforth. This line sheet of water separates Harris from Lewis for many miles,
and although the tide Hows up to the head of the loch, a narrow passage, known as " the rapids" in the
district, renders navigation impossible except at certain stales of tide. The majority of the Divers appeared
to shun these narrow falls : a liue adult Black-throated, however, made the attempt to pass up where
the torrent was pouring down with tremendous force; again and again he faced the rushing waters and
was carried back, but at last by sheltering under the stones and in the swirl of the backwaters by the
banks he attained his object, and having surmounted all difficulties sailed majestically up towards the
head of the loch.
The newly hatched young are covered with a thick dusky black down and, like all waterfowl, take
to their natural element immediately after leaving the sheU.
R E D - T I IR 0 A T ED DIVE R.
COTA'MBUS SEPTENTRIONAL1S.
Tins is by far the most numerous of the Divers Unit frequent the seas around our shores or take up their
summer quarters and rear their young in the more northern portions of the British Islauds.
As a rule this species selects its breeding-haunts iu fiat districts, though I met with a few pairs on
the lowly lochs in the rough hill-country to the north of Loch Marce iu the west of Ross-shire. A pair
were evidently breeding on Ijoch iia Fad in May lStM ; hut though the water was closely watched for
several hours neither eggs nor youug could be detected, and a terrible deluge of rain with blusterous
squalls of wiud that hurst upon us shortly after our arrival put a stop to all attempts to catch a glimpsu
of the birds on a second occasion, aud rendered a speedy retreat from that dreary solitude at once
necessary.
In June 1*08, while procuring Divers as specimens fur preserving, two eggs of this s|>eeies were
discovered un the edge of a pleat uf black peaty water near the Crask in Sutherland. Our inspection
or their treasures appeared to have proved auuoyiug lo the birds, and a si-cond pair were laid at the
distance of about twenty yards from the first. These eg'gs were placed, as is usually the ease with this
species, within a few feet of the edge of the pool, the Red-lhroatcd for the must perl choosing a cradle
for its young on the mainland, while its Black-throated relative abuost invariably selects an island.
The Red-throated Diver is especially numerous in the central aud custom parts of Sutherland and
also on the Hat moors of Caithness, breeding iu great abundance about the Hoes In the centre uf the
county, the black pools of water and the swampy nature of the country occasionally rendering their
eggs unapproachable. At the time of my visit to this locality, I found the portable india-rubber boat
most useful iu exploring these desolate swamps, and by its help I succeeded in reaching the haunts of
every pair marked down on the open moors.
I have Usually remarked that these birds are to be found iu great numbers when sprats are plentiful off
our coasts. On the Sth and Dili of January, 1SSII, the weather at the time being doll and cold, with a light
easterly wind and sharp frost, the boats off Brighton and Sburchaiu, as well as along towards the west,
BaT lilllicing, Worthing, and Goring, were taking large hauls of fish. Red-lhroatcd Divers wen- rionodinglj
abundant on tin' water, and large lligbts were also passing towards the west, at least five hundred being
seen on wing during the space of an hour at midday on the Dth, Hying in Mocks of from twenty to double
thai number and also in a continuous stream of single birds. Scarcely a winter has passed when f have been
shooting iu the Channel olf ihe coasts of Kent or Sussex without large mil hers c ining under my obscrvallull
previous to squally nea;her; they are then seen passing west in small parlies, following one another iu
The summer plumage is occasionally retained lill late in the year ; during the last week iu (Ictoher 1S72,
while steaming with the herring-llcet outside the Cross Sands off Yarmouth, 1 noticed some hundreds of