24 RED-THROATED DIVER.
than the females, and weighing at an average fully a pound more. These
birds are extremely tenacious of life. One which my son shot on the
wing fell, dived instantly, and swam to a considerable distance under
water, but returned to the surface, back downwards, and quite dead.
The notes of the Red-throated Diver are harsh and rather loud; they
resemble the syllables cac, cac, cac, carah, carah, enounced in rapid succession.
In some instances the young men of my party found that the most
successful method of approaching these birds whilst on the water, was to
run as fast as possible towards them and shout loudly, for on such occasions
the birds dived instead of flying at once, and on emerging again, afforded
them much better chances as they took to wing. At certain times,
when approached while they have young, they utter a soft plaintive note,
which evidently conveys to their offspring their wish that they should remain
quiet in their hiding-places.
The Red-throated Diver does not acquire the full beauty of its plumage
until its fourth year. The young are at first covered with thick
hairy down, of a blackish colour, inclining to brown. Before they are
fully able to fly, this is changed into a dull grey on the upper parts, thickly
sprinkled with white dots on the extremity of each feather, the lower
parts being of a sullied white. During the second year these tints are
firmer, there are fewer spots above, and the texture of the lower parts is
more silky. In the third, both sexes assume the fine grey of the hindneck,
with its longitudinal white stripes, and here and there a few spots
of red on the lower part of the throat. The next spring their plumage is
perfect.
I have never observed any of these birds on our inland lakes or rivers.
In the neighbourhood of Boston, and along the Bay of Fundjr, they are
best known by the names of " Scape-grace"" and " Cape-racer."" By the
9th of August the young birds had left the fresh-water lakes and ponds
for the bays on the coast, and we were informed by the settlers, both in
Newfoundland and Labrador, that, by the last days of September, none
were to be found in those countries.
The dislike which this species shews to fresh-water after the breedingseason
is such, that they are rarely seen in the upper part of large bays,
but prefer for their winter residence the shores of sea-islands and barren
rocks. Thus, at that season, they are met with about the outer islands of
the Bay of Fundy, and those along our eastern coast.
While in fresh water, the Red-throated Diver feeds principally on
RED-THROATED DIVER. 25
small fish, shrimps, leeches, snails, and aquatic insects. The masses of
feather-like substances often found in the stomachs of Grebes, I have
never met with in this species. Its flesh is oily, tough, dark-coloured, and
disagreeable to the taste, although I saw some Mountain Indians feeding
upon it at Labrador with apparent pleasure.
COLYMBUS SEPTENTR.IONAI.IS, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 220—Lath. Ind. Ornith.
vol. ii. p. 801 Ch. Bonap. Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 421.
BED-THROATED DIVER, COLYBIBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS, Richards and Swains. Fauna
Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 476 Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 519.
Adult Male in summer. Plate CCIL Fig. 1.
Bill as long as the head, slender but strong, straight, rather compressed,
tapering to a point. Upper mandible with the dorsal line almost
straight, the ridge convex, as are the sides, the edges sharp and involute;
nasal groove basal, short; nostrils basal, lateral, direct, oblong, pervious.
Lower mandible with the angle extremely narrow and extending beyond
the middle, the dorsal line straight and sloping upwards to the point, the
ridge convex, but narrower than that of the upper mandible, the edges
sharp and involute; the point of both mandibles rather sharp.
Head of moderate size, oblong, narrowed before. Neck rather long
and slender. Eyes rather small. Body elongated, somewhat depressed.
Wings small. Feet short, rather large, placed very far back ; tibia almost
entirely concealed; tarsus short, exceedingly compressed, sharpedged
before and behind, covered all over with reticulated angular scales;
hind toe extremely small, connected with the second by a very small
membrane; the anterior toes united by reticulated membranes, the fourth
longest, the third a little shorter, the second considerably shorter than the
third; all covered anteriorly with very narrow transverse scutella, the
second toe with a free two-lobed membrane; claws very small, depressed,
rounded.
Plumage short and dense; of the head and neck very short, blended ;
of the lower parts blended, short, and with a silky gloss ; of the upper
slightly glossed and somewhat compact; the feathers in general oblong
and rounded. Wings proportionally very small and narrow, curved ;
primaries strong, tapering, first longest, second almost as long, the rest
rapidly graduated; secondaries broad, rounded. Tail extremely short,
rounded, of twenty rounded feathers.