PYGOPODES.
COLYMBIDyE.
GOLYMBIDm,
COLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS, L in n t e u S .*
THE RED-THROATED DIVER.
Colymbus septentrionalis.
T h e R e d -th r o a t ed D iv e r is tlie smallest species of the
genus, as well as the most common ; immature birds especially,
and adults with the white throats of the winter
plumage in smaller numbers, being found on the coasts of
the British Islands from autumn to spring; in fact, some
Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 220 (1766).
RED-THROATED DIVER. 113
individuals which have not gone northward to breed, may be
met with out at sea in every month of the year. Mr. Gat-
combe writes that he remembers two regular invasions of
this species after severe cold, the bays, estuaries, and creeks
of South Devon and Cornwall being full of these birds.
This happened in each case just before spring, when all were
in winter or immature plumage ; but some remained until
they had assumed the lead-coloured neck and red throat of
the nuptial dress, in which they are comparatively rare in
the south. This Diver is generally distributed along the
south coast, and it is common about the estuary of the
Thames, both on the Kentish and Essex sides, where birds
which follow the numerous shoals of sprats are in consequence
called Sprat Loons,*' and being frequently caught in
the nets, they are commonly exposed for sale in the London
markets throughout the winter. On the broads of Norfolk
many are seen, but very few are procured, the boat-shooters
leaving them unmolested, as the diving powers of the bird
only cause loss of time and labour. In May, on the way
northwards, and again in September, red-throated examples
are occasionally obtained on both sides of our island; and
it is not uncommon to find birds on inland waters, and far
up rivers. In Scotland it is abundant, especially on the
western side, at all seasons of the year, breeding in Suther-
landshire, and in a few other counties, as far south as the
Island of Arran; and also in the Hebrides, Orkneys, and
Shetlands. In the North it is almost universally known as
the ‘Rain-goose,’ and its wailing cry is believed to foretell
the wet and stormy weather of which it is certainly a frequent
accompaniment. At such times the bird generally flies high,
and in irregular circles. To the coasts of Ireland this Diver
is a regular visitant from autumn to spring, and it appears
( term Loon, or Loom, appears to be a modification of the Scandinavian
Lom (Icelandic ‘Ldmr’), which is probably connected with lame, in reference
to the bird’s hobbling mode of progressing on land. In Norway the name refers
more particularly to the Black-throated Diver; but Nilsson, in his Fauna of
Scandinavia, calls all the three species by the name of Lom, distinguishing the
Red-throated Diver, on account of its comparatively smaller size, by the name of
Sma Lom.
VOL. IV. Q