otherwise be excellent; but these are invincible obstacles to their being used to these purposes, as no method has yet been hit upon to clear them from the smell and dampness.

The taisté build in holes of the earth; like the rest lays but

one egg.

These birds are found in the winter-time almost wholly gray, and others spotted about the head, neck, and back, with that colour; but whether they change colour in winter, and put on this as the dress of the season, or if it is the last year's brood not yet arrived at their proper colours, I am uncertain ; one thing I am certain of, that I have seen them of both colours late in the winter, and early in the spring, so that, in my opinion, the change is not universal, or perhaps it is but in the hardest winters where this happens in general *.

Before I dismiss this genus, I must take notice of one particular which I have often observed, and no doubt has been so by others before now, and this is, that all these birds make use of their wings below water in the same manner as a swimmer uses his arms, the strokes of which answer to those of his legs; just so the auk, the puffin, the guillemotes, and no doubt the divers use their wings, the strokes of which exactly correspond with those of their feet, and by this means make vast

*The following particular makes me imagine it the young brood that are thus coloured: The legs and feet of the speckled individuals are of a dirty brown. whereas the old birds have these uniformly a very deep orange; and I believe it is yet unobserved, that birds having once acquired their growth and colours, ever change these of their bare parts.

way in the water, and no doubt are of great service to them in their ascent from the bottom, as these are not furnished

with an apparatus for this purpose like the fishes; but however this is, the above may be easily observed by any one upon throwing a stone over the rock where they haunt, when he will see those that dive striking alternately with wings and legs, till the depth of water hides them from his sight.

Whether any other species of this genus ever appear on our coasts, I am uncertain; have never observed any other; have often inquired about the Great Auk especially, but cannot find it is ever seen here; nor can I find the Black-billed Auk, nor the Lesser Guillemote.

These birds, except the taisté *, all retire from us in winter, and come again in spring. The country people say they keep to a day almost in their exits and returns; however, this, I dare say, depends much upon the weather, as is the case with the migration of the swans, the nestling of small birds, and the springing, leafing, and blowing of plants.

It is from these things the universal almanack is to be drawn, and from these many of our rural observers will draw as certain notions, as the greatest philosophers with all their learning.

And the Scout or Guillemote.See the note, p. 104.

GENUS XXVIII.—THE DIVER.

Gen. Char-Bill strong, straight, pointed, upper mandible the longest, edges of each bending inwards; nostrils linear, the upper part divided by a small cutaneous appendage; tongue long and pointed, serrated at each side near the base; legs very thin and flat; toes, the exterior the longest, the back toe small, joined to the interior by a small membrane; tail short, consists of twenty feathers.

Species 1.-The Great Northern Diver.

Wil. Orn. 342. Raii Syn. Av. 125. Colymbus Maximus stellatus nostras, Sib. Scot. 20. tab. 15. C. glacialis, Lin. Sys. 221. Brit. Zool. 413.

THE Great Northern Diver is very frequent round all the Orkneys, but especially in the bays and harbours, which it enters in pursuit of small fish, its only sustenance. The natural history of this and the following species is something paradoxical. Though they continue among these islands the whole season, I can find none to inform me how or where they breed. It is certain the formation of their legs, and the manner of placing them, does not allow them to walk, nor will teasing make them fly, as I have often seen; indeed, their wings seem too small for this purpose. How then do they propagate and hatch? To solve this many improbable schemes have been advanced; some* telling us "they have their nests and

* The elder Wallace, Hist. Ork. 16. ed. 1693, and from him transmitted to Sir Robert Sibbald.

"hatch their eggs under the water;" others, that they do this in a natural hollow under their wings, and that they have but a single egg. How it is, I confess myself ignorant, nor can I, as far as I know, in this particular be informed by the writings of the naturalists, none of whom that I can learn adverting to this bird's inability to perform its functions in the ordinary way.

This is the largest diver we have, in length three feet and a half, breadth four feet eight inches, weight sixteen pounds. The head and neck to the breast are of a deep black, with a gloss of green, changeable into purple; under the throat is a small semilunar white band, streaked with black, and on the neck behind a larger, streaked in the same manner; the bill is black, sharp, and strongly made; the breast and belly, also the under sides of the wings, pure white; the sides of the breast, to the setting on of the wings, curiously streaked Jack and white; the back, coverts of the wings, and a stroke under the wings, along the sides, are black, but each feather marked with two well defined white spots; the scapulars are long, and the spots large and square; the tail short and black; a dusky line runs from the thighs to the vent; the legs are black.

I take this or the next to be Martin's carrara, bonnivochil, or bishop-fowl, which he describes "to be as big as a goose, "having a white spot on the breast, and the rest party-colour"ed; it seldom flies, but is exceeding quick in diving;" weighs, according to him, sixteen pounds one ounce.—Vide Descrip. West. Isles, page 72.

Species 2.-The Immer.

C. pedibus palmatis tetradactylis, corpore supra nigricante albo undulato, subtus toto albo, Brunnich. Orn. 129. Lin. Sys. 222. Anser nostratibus the Ember-goose dictus, Sib.Scot. 21. Emmer or Immer Goose, Orc.

THIS species, by common observers, is not distinguished from the last, but both go in Orkney under the name of Immer or Emmer Goose; they are, however, very different. Sir Robert Sibbald places it among his goose or duck-kind with broad bills, between the wild and dunter-goose (anas molissi ma), but it has nothing to do in the genus. The emmergoose is very frequent in our sounds and bays at all seasons. Like the former it never attempts to fly, even though fired at; seems to put its whole trust in diving, which it does with wonderful facility, stays a long while under water, and rises at a vast distance. In bulk it equals the former; the bill strongly made, very sharp, and four inches long, the ridge of the upper mandible black, the rest both of it and the lower palecoloured; the head and neck a dusky black; the throat, belly, and inside of the wings white, with a blackish line crossing the vent; the whole upper side of the body is a dusky black, only the point of every feather is bordered with white, which at some distance looks as if it were waved; the covert feathers of the wings, instead of white, are waved with a faint ash-colour, the quill-feathers black; the legs, like all those of the tribe, are thin, and partly white and part black; the tail