kindly presented us with a specimen that he had taken
from a nest the preceding summer. He informed . Us,- at
the same time, that they were becoming .-very scarce ; and
although he had, at different times, found their .eggs,' he
never saw two in one nest, which, ia-:nlways-pbce^cte^t0
the water’s edge, and composed 'merely of a few J4§^e>nush.és
and-dried grass that "may happen, loj.be;.near, without any
down or feathers-whatever.” " - Mr. Robert Dunn finds-., this
species, as Dr. Fleming had previously, observed^ ^seeding
in Shetland, and v in refereneebb/ their. habitsisays^ V On the
banks of the lakes they lay-them eggsAcI$£ei||o the waterls
edge, so close, indeed, that the bird nan touch, the water with
its bill while sitting on its eggst; p e rh a p s t^ ^ b ird s have
the power of . removing theii<_eggsfrom their proximity-to the
water ; for were-it to- be_.swollen only, two^o%threefinclies;in
height the eggs would be^ destroyed. . I have' taken their
eggs several times, and invariably,found them not -more than
two or three inches from the water’s4|jig(|:* ^Thdvfem^l^lfys
two eggs, which in general are deposited amongst a few loose
stones. The birds are remarkably|^y, particularly during
the breeding-season, and if any one approaches. the lake, instantly
leave their nests and take to th e watef. “ .T a.procure
these birds two or three persons should go. together,, never leSf
than two; one should secrete himself close. to the :water, and
the other move round to the opposite side, and letting himself
be seen, may, by great caution, drive . the birds towards
the person in ambush. I have practised this method
peatedly with success. I t requires more patience and caution
in shooting these birds than any others I know of, excepting
the Northern Diver ; for in general they select such a place
for the site of incubation, as from its- natural situation will
admit of their perceiving any one that approaches ; and very
often after creeping a great distancé on your hands and knees
towards a lake, believing yourself unobserved, on arriving
there you have the mortification to find the object of your
search is on the side exactly opposite to you.” Mr. Hewit-
son, when on the west coast of Norway, saw this species
often, upon almost every piece of water, and frequently heard
their loud singular scream in an evening at a great distance.
My friend, Richard Danü, Esq., sent me the following n ote:
‘‘ This Diver is far more common here than the Black-
throated. On the west coast óf Norway it is very abundant
p om the Naze to the North Cape. In the Lapland Alps,
m theDofre Fiell, and'in the interior of Sweden, it is equally
^numerous. In ’August, 1838, I saw on the great Tomea
Lake,/the source of the Toroea river, thirty in a flock, and
all old birds. Although so common, it is rarely one sees
the young before they are able to fly; their habits and mode
of feeding their young arc similar to those of the Black-
throated DiVër. Their cries are very mournful and melancholy;
During the-breeding-season, while on the wing, they
utten^frequently a sound like the word, kakera, kakera, by
which name th e y are called in many parts of Scandinavia.
The red neck disappears in the winter, a darker hue only
marking the space Occupied by the red. The eggs are of a
dirty greenish hue.” Thé eggs of this bird in my own eola
t i o n measure two inches eight lines in length, by one inch
ten lines in breadth; of a dark greenish-brown when fresh
laid, rather thickly spotted with dark umber-brown ; but the
ground colour changes a little and assumes a chestnut, or dark
reddish-brown tint when the egg has been long incubated.
I t will thus be seen that in its habits and food this species
very closely resembles the other two already described. It
is found at the Faroe Islands and at Iceland. A t the latter
place Mr. Proctor saw small flocks of twenty or twenty-five
together, but not a White-throated bird among them. Mr.
Proctor suspected they were all old males; the females were
then engaged in incubation. The Red-throated Diver has
1 I