enabled to propel itself in the water with great velocity in a
straight line, as well as turn with astonishing quickness.”
Nuttall, of Boston, who kept one for some time, gives the
following account of its manners :—“ A young bird of this
species which I transferred to a fish-pond, made a good deal
of plaint, and would sometimes wander out of his more
natural element, and hide and bask in the grass. On these
occasions he lay very still until nearly approached, and then
slid into the pond and uttered his usual plaint. When out
at a distance he made the same cautious efforts to hide, and
would commonly defend himself in great anger, by darting
at the intruder, and striking powerfully with his daggerlike
bill. This bird appeared to suffer from the glare of
broad daylight, and was inclined to hide from its effects,
but became very active towards the dusk of the evening.
The pupil of the eye in this individual, like that of nocturnal
animals, appeared indeed dilatable; and the one in
question often put down his head and eyes into the water to
observe the situation of his prey. This bird was a most
expert and indefatigable diver, often swimming under water,
and, as it were, flying with the velocity of an arrow in the
air. Though at length inclining to become docile, and
showing no alarm when visited, it constantly betrayed its
wandering habits, and every night was found to have waddled
to some hiding-place, where it seemed to prefer hunger
to the loss of liberty, and never could be restrained from
exercising its instinct to move onwards to some secure or
more suitable asylum.”
The natural food of this Diver is fish and crustaceans,
and some pebbles and gravel are generally to be found in
the stomach. In pursuit of its prey it has been known to
descend to great depths : An example in nearly full summer-
dress, given to Mr. Gatcombe by Mr. Stephen Clogg of
L-ooe, was caught in the meshes of a trammel-net thirty
fathoms below the surface of the water. Its cry is a most
wreird and melancholy howl, frequently uttered at night; it
also emits a low croak.
The bird in its fully adult plumage has the beak black ;
the irides red ; head, cheeks, and back of the neck black,
the first with some tints of rich brown, green, and blue; the
back also black, but most of the feathers ornamented with
spots of white upon the black, those on the back with small
square-shaped spots, the scapulars and tertials with larger
white spots, Avliich are also square, one on each side the
shaft of the feather, forming transverse lines, the tertials
also ending in white ; on the wing-coverts, rump, and upper
tail-coverts the white spots are small; primaries and tail-
feathers uniformly black without spots; chin and neck in
front deep black, varied with two bands of white, spotted
with black; from these marks this species is sometimes
called the Ring-necked Diver; lower part of the neck in
front white, with short longitudinal stripes of black upon
white on the sides ; breast and under surface of the body
white; sides under the wing and the flanks greyish-white ;
axillaries white with browm central streaks ; legs, toes, and
their membranes nearly black on the outside, lighter on the
inner side.
The whole length is from thirty to thirty-three inches.
From the carpal joint to the end of the wing thirteen inches
and three-quarters to fourteen inches. Males have been
taken Aveighing eleven and even twelve pounds, but the
females are much smaller.
At the autumn moult the adults appear to lose their black
throat-bands for a time, although it seems probable that in
vigorous mature birds these ornaments are reassumed at an
early date. Mr. Gatcombe once examined an adult Northern
Diver in the middle of Avinter, the markings on the back
and scapulars of which formed spots similar to those of
summer, but were rather obscure and of an ash-grey instead
of white, and not wavy like those of an immature
bird, which fact leads him to suppose that it may be the
true adult winter plumage of this species. A bird shot at
Exmouth on the 9th of December is described by Mr. Cecil
Smith (‘ B. Somersetshire,’ p. 540) as having the throat
Avhite with the black encroaching and nearly joining in front
toAvards the bottom ; the feathers of the back and scapulars