Diver (bird)

“ The Great Northern Diver is rarely seen on 157 land, perhaps never except during the breeding season. Its movements on shore are ungainly in the extreme, the legs being placed so far back that the bird can only push itself along in a crawling sort of a way; it is equally rarely seen in the air, and apparently only uses its wings to fly when performing its annual migrations. How the species still retains the function of flight at all seems almost a mystery, but perhaps the constant use of the wings in the water keeps them to a standard of efficiency. ”

“ Its favourite nesting places are on islands in moorland lochs, pools, and tarns. It displays few social tendencies at this season, although several pairs not unfrequently nest within a comparatively small area of exceptionally suitable country, each, nevertheless, keeping to its own particular haunt. This Diver may also pair for life, seeing that it evinces considerable attachment to certain favourite nesting 161 places. The nest is always made upon the ground, and seldom very far from the water, to which the frightened bird can retire readily. ”

“ It often so sinks itself when menaced by danger, and then, almost out of sight, swims away with great speed. If pursuit is still continued all but the neck is sunk below the surface, and finally, if hotly pressed, the bird will disappear entirely, and swim along under water at a speed absolutely astonishing, Gätke records that this Diver, when chased by a boat under these circumstances, will dive and allow the boat to pass over it, rising again in the rear of it, a habit which my own observations of the bird completely confirm. ”

“ The Red-throated Diver is at all times an extremely shy and vigilant bird, ever on the alert to elude its numerous enemies. The sight of man seems invariably to alarm it, even in the wildest countries in which it breeds. I have often observed that, while yet several hundred yards from them, they marked my approach with great watchfulness. ”

“ Sometimes no nest whatever is made. The two eggs are narrow and elongated, olive- or rufous-brown, sparingly spotted and speckled with blackish-brown and paler brown. The sitting bird is ever on the alert to slip off into the water at the first alarm; and sometimes both birds will fly round and round in anxiety for the fate of their treasured eggs. A movement seawards is soon taken when the young are sufficiently matured. This Diver has a wide geographical range outside our limits, extending across Europe and Asia to Japan and North-west America, perhaps as far as Hudson Bay. ”

“ There is only one brood yearly, the young birds hatching during the brief summer of the far north.
The bird's head and neck are black, the bill being strong and pointed at the tip. The breast is white, but the back, tail, and legs are black, with scattered white spots; its feet are webbed. Though his wings are short, and his body appears heavy, the Northern Diver can fly powerfully and swiftly, owing to the strength of his muscles. The body, too, is smooth and rounded, adapted either for swimming or flying. ”

“ It is a very awkward bird on land, but a graceful and rapid swimmer. It is a remarkable diver, and it is thought that no other feathered creature can dive so far beneath the surface or remain so long a time under water. ”

“ All birds with webbed feet live near the sea, or near rivers and ponds, for their nature teaches them to seek what is advantageous for them. Many of those with divided feet live near waters and marshes, as the anthus in the neighbourhood of rivers. Its colour is beautiful, and its mode of life good. The diver lives near the sea, and when it plunges into the sea it remains as long a time as it would take a man to walk over a plethrum of ground. This bird is less than a hawk. ”

“ The nesting-holes were unusually long in which the birds were breeding, and it was a very difficult matter to get to the young.
Great Northern Diver, Colymbus glacialis. (Himbrimi.) —I found this bird distinctly rare in the North, and only saw about four specimens, two of which were on the coast. I obtained a splendid adult and two eggs.
Red-throated Diver, C. septentrionalis. (Lómur.) —This was the common species of Diver, and in one district I saw as many as twenty at one time. I obtained adult male and female, young in down, and young in first plumage. ”

“ The bird is in immature plumage, the feathers of the upper parts being edged with pale slate-grey, and the white plumage of the chin, throat, and sides of the head is slightly suffused with brown. The following measurements will be sufficient to distinguish the bird from the Great Northern Diver, a species more frequently met with inland:—Wing, 11·9 in. ”

“ The Red-throated Diver is found, in tolerable abundance, on the sea-coast of the United States during autumn, winter, and early spring, from Maryland to the extremities of Maine. The younger the birds, the farther south do they proceed to spend the winter, and it is rare to see an old bird, of either sex, at any season to the south of the Bay of Boston. ”

“ Razorbill, Apparent habit of constantly drinking sea-water, of, 62
— Bright colouring of buccal cavity, of, 127; suggested explanation of, 129–31
— Nuptial note and actions of, 127
Red-throated Diver, A ripple in shape of bird, 59
— Resembles both a grebe and a guillemot, 59
— Neck of, very beautiful, 59, 60
— Dives like a grebe, 60, 61
— Apparent habit of continually drinking, of, 61
Right does not exist apart from might, 348, 349
Rock Pipit, Arctic skua baffled by a, 10, 160 ”

“ The Red-throated Diver, however agile and graceful it may be in the water or even in the air, is a clumsy object on the land, incapable of walking upright, owing to the backward position of its legs, and compelled to shuffle along with its breast 164 touching the surface. In winter these Divers are by no means shy, and I have many times watched them pursuing their fishing operations, from my station on the cliffs. ”

“ From dry land they cannot begin their flight. Their whole life is spent in swimming and diving. They even repose floating upon the water, and when thus asleep float as buoyantly as if they were made of cork, the legs raised to the edges of the wings, and the head comfortably buried among the feathers between the back and shoulder. Should a storm arise, they at once turn to face the blast, and are usually able, with their paddle-like feet, to maintain themselves in the same place. They dive with great facility, and make their way more swiftly when under water than when swimming at the top. ”

“ He seems to know before entering the water what the fish are doing, and the formation of his body and limbs makes him a capital diver. It is the habit of the Northern Diver to seek out especially the shoals of herrings and sprats, of which both young and old birds consume great quantities. ”

“ But I at once knew that very valuable pearls must often be found in conch-shells and deep-sea oyster-shells, as the diver scraped in all of both that he could find.
Remember! All kinds of shell-fish are called "mollusca," have white blood, and breathe not only in the water, but also in the air.
And will you believe it? I have found out considerable about the signals that a diver gives to the man at the pump on deck.
If he wants to be pulled up, be gives the life-line four sharp pulls. If he wants more air, he gives one pull at the air-pipe. ”

“ They chase each other excitedly down the stream for a little, then all pitch down upon it and dive, and one, upon coming up, dives again at the merest sight of another who behaves similarly, a peculiarly set and rigid attitude being adopted by the waiting bird. Is this not something like a little romp or water-dance following on the excitement of the chase? True, it may have been fighting between the two males, for dabchicks, like the great crested grebe and other water-birds, probably fight by diving and attacking each other beneath the surface. ”

“ It is gregarious at this season, often congregating into large flocks, and not unfrequently associates with other Sea Ducks, notably with Wigeon and Pintail. It is a most expert and ready diver, spends most of its time upon the water, and appears always to prefer to dive, rather than to fly, in avoiding pursuit. If compelled to take wing, it rises with much splashing: but, when once fairly in the air, is capable of rapid flight, the quickly-beating pinions making a whistling or rustling sound. ”

“ All the wonderful phenomena of flight can be watched from a distance of a few feet, or even inches, from the eye. The simile of the caged butterfly does not apply to the diving bird in its tank, which exhibits its powers, pursuing its prey 80up and down in this space of a few feet as well as it could in the open ocean. In the next, the water does for the diving bird what it does for all its true children, be they birds or fish or plants or flowers; it adds a lustre and beauty, a something of “sea-change,” whose effects not even sunlight can surpass. ”

“ The relief is sometimes so soothing that in long waits the droning of the air-valve will lull the diver into a sleep, from which he is suddenly awakened by a quick jerk on his wrist. Many divers, while waiting for the movements of those above, play with the fish, watch the crabs, or rake over the gravel in search of the thousand and one things that are lost overboard and that everybody hopes to find on the bottom of the sea. ”

“ If we look at the moor-hen's foot, which shows no special adaptation to swimming, but a very marked one for walking over a network of water-herbage, the former of these two suppositions seems the more probable. The bird from a shore and weed-walker has become aquatic, and is probably becoming more so. If the habit of diving is only becoming established, it is possible that some localities might be more conducive to its quick increase than others, and it would be interesting, I think, if observers in different parts of the country would make and record observations on this point. ”

“ It is found on many of the continental rivers, even those which are far distant from the sea, but is not often killed, as it is shy of being approached, readily takes wing, flies swiftly, and as a diver is most rapid and expert. ”

“ It is easy to understand how the properly so-called divers can plunge with impetus to great depths, or keep themselves at the bottom by continued strokes of the webbed feet; but neither how the ouzel walks at the bottom, if it be specifically lighter than the water, nor how a bird can swim horizontally under the surface; at least it is not enough explained that the action must be always that of oblique diving, the bird regulating the stroke according to the upward pressure of the water at different depths. ”

“ The farther he penetrated the more numerous became the waterfowl. Ducks swam among the flags, or rose with a rush and splashing. Coots and moorhens dived and hid in the reeds. The lesser grebe sank at the sound of the paddle like a stone. A strong northern diver raised a wave as he hurried away under the water, his course marked by the undulation above him. ”

“ At the moment of diving he fills his lungs with air and grasps the cord, and as he does so the stone is thrown from the side of the boat by his assistant. The weight of the stone carries him down; he gathers as many oysters as he can while the air in his lungs holds out, and then he shakes the cord as a signal to be drawn up. Sharks abound in the regions where the pearl is found, and not infrequently they seize the poor diver as he rises to the surface. ”

“ These fish are the true rovers of the water. They have a large round black eye, full of intelligence and fire: their warlike spines and gaff-topsails give them the true buccaneer build. One of these, while the diver was engaged, incited by its fearless curiosity, slipped up and touched him with its cold nose. ”

“ The divers live chiefly on fish, and are of eminently marine habit, though invariably resorting for the purpose of breeding to freshwater lakes, where they lay two dark brown eggs on the very brink; but they are not unfrequently found far from the sea, being either driven inland by stress of weather, or exhausted in their migrations. Like most birds of their build, they chiefly trust to swimming, whether submerged or on the surface, as a means of progress, but once on the wing their flight is strong and they can mount to a great height. ”

“ An oceanic bird that escapes from its enemies by diving, and is never seen on the wing except when migrating, and never on land except when breeding, his form has been modified so as to make swimming and diving as easy to him as careering through the air is to the swift, and climbing on trees to the woodpecker. ”

“ When the fishing ground is reached a staging, built of the oars, is rigged to project from the boat over the water, and to the edge of this the diving-stones are hung, weighing from fifty to sixty pounds. The diver stands in a stirrup upon this, or if this is wanting upon the stone itself, holding the cord attached to it between his toes, with his left foot he holds the net for the reception of the pearl-oysters. Then, pressing his nostrils firmly with his left hand, and with his right grasping the signal cord, he is let rapidly down to the bottom. ”

“ On seeing an enemy approach, it first beats the water with its wings, as if in play, or as it would do if washing itself, raises both wings for a minute or more, then paddles off, and takes to wing. When on a 393 lake, they prefer diving to flying, swim with all but the neck and head under water, in the manner of the Anhinga or Snake-bird, and easily dive without shewing their backs. ”