Posted by Adam Quinan on September 17, 2004 at 01:40:44 from 65.48.153.140 user Adam.
While going through my father's house I came across a little book that I remember from my grandmother's house. Sure enough it has her writing all over it. It is called "A Bird Book for the Pocket" by Edmund Sandars. Hers was the 3rd 1933 edition picked up shortly after she returned to England in the mid 1930s, after living in India for much of her earlier life.
On reviewing it I believe that this small book was most likely Dick's "Pocket Book of Birds" in which he found all of the information about Great Northern Divers.
Sandars lists the Great Northern Diver as "Colymbus immer" which we have been assured is the old name and replaced by the modern Gavia immer in 1931 or so.
Just as Dick reads the entry, it says "Nests abroad" and "Usually seen solitary" and when he looks up the size it says 31" which is that quoted in the book.
Finally, the picture of the Diver shown in the book, is almost identical to that drawn by Dick/Ransome in his notebook. It faces the same way and is in the same pose. Immediately above it on the same page is a painting of the Black Throated Diver which looks just like Dick's drawing too.
Incidentally my grandmother has a note in her book "Mr and Mrs and 3 half grown young ones" seen in "Isle of Man, May 1970"