i.
+• IMBER D.
D E S C R I P T IO N ,
Female.
Place and
Manners.
Colymbua immer, Lin. Syft.i; p, 232. 6.— Bran. 12g.—Muller, p. 29.
Le grand Plongeon, Brif. Orn. vi. p. 105. 1. pi. 10. fig. 1.— Buf. Oif. vin,.
p. 251.— PI, Enl. 914.
Colymbus maximus Ge/neri, Rail Syn. p. 126. 8.--Will. Orn. p. 342. '
Ember Goofe, Sibbald Scot. 21.— Wallace Orkney, 16. — Deles Ferroe
IJlesy 138.— Pontop. ii. 80.
Imber, Br, Zool. N° 238. pi. 84.
Br. Mu/. Lev. Mu/.
T H J S fpecies is lefs than the Northern Diver, and mea-
fures abov« two feet in length. The bill is four inches
and a quarter long, and of a dufky brown : the top of the head,
and hind part of the neck, are brown: forehead, and ftdes of the
head and neck, fpeckled with brown : the back and wings brown’;,
each feather margined with a paler brown: on the middle.of
the neck the brown comes very forward, and almolt furrounds it
above this it is fpotted black and white : except thefe markings,
all the under parts, from chin to vent, are.white; but the laft is
mottled with brown : quills and tail brown, the laft edged with
white : legs dufky.
The female is faid to be lefs defined in colour, being merely
brown on the upper parts; of a dufky white beneath; and fcarcely
fpeckled at all on the fides of the neck. In the Leverian Mu-
feum is one anfwering to this laft defcription ; and in my own
colleftion another of the fame ; but we have ever efteemed them
as birds not in an adult ftate.
This fpecies is better known in the northern parts of this
ifland than the fouthern, where it feldom appears, except the
winter be very fevere. Inhabits the feas about the Orknies, and
the Ferroe IJles. Found alfo in Iceland, and moft parts of Northern
Europe-, likewife in Kamtfchatka -, but not in any part of Sibiria
or RuJJia. Inhabits Switzerland, particularly on the Lake Con-
fiance, where it is known by the name of Fluder. Said to dive
wonderfully well, and to rife at an amazing diftance from the
place where it plunged. Makes the neft among the reeds and
flags, and places it in the water; fo that it is continually wet, as
in fome of the Grebe genus. Has a loud fhrill cry. Is difficult
to be taken, either on land or fwimming on the water; but is
not unfrequently caught under the water, by a hook baited with
a fmall fijh, its ufual food *.
Colymbus ftellatus, Brun. N° 130.— Muller, N° 159.
Le petit Plongeon, Brif. Orn. vi. p. 108. 2. pi. ic. fig. 2.-—Buf. 01/. vlii.
p. 254. pi. 21.— PI. Enl. 992.
Greateft tailed Diver, or Loon, Rail Syn. p. 125. A. 4. var l—Will, Orn.
p. 341. pi. 61.
Colymbus caudatus ftellatus, Nov. Com. Petr. iv. p. 424. — Will. Orn.
pi. 62.
Greateft fpeckled Loon, Albin, i. pi. 82.—Br. Zool, N° 239.—-Ar&. Zool.
N°44i.
Br. Mu/. Lev. Mu/.
T H I S is ftill lefs than the Imber: weighs two pounds and
a half: is twenty-feven inches in length, and three feet
nine in breadth. The bill is three inches long, and bends a
trifle upwards; of a pale horn-colour; the top of the upper
■ SPECKLED D.
9ESCRIPTICW.
* Sometimes taken twenty yards deep under water, viz. with a net, or iron-
hook baited with a fijh. They are commonly fold for two drachms and a half
of filver apiece.— Willughby.
mandible