THE MERGANSERS.* 



fKir A-0 



THK GOOSANDER. t 



llic birds Lulonging to the genus Mcrgun live on lakes, ponds, and rivers. They 

 destroy a vast abundance of fish, and, for their destructive powers in this respect, have 

 been compared to the otters. It is for the purpose of retaining the slippery fish that the 

 tnandiblcs and tongues of these birds are furnished with dcntilations and papilla^ which 

 facilitate the entrance of food into the gullet. So great is the bulk of the iish that they 

 sometiines swallow, that they cannot be introduced completely into the stomach, Iho 

 body descending Ihcro only when the head is digested. The gizzard of the ^Merganser is 

 less muscular than that of the ducks; their intestines and c;vca are shorter; the swallow- 

 ing part of the lower larynx in males is enormous, and partly membraneous. 



These birds, in swimming, hold the head alone (nit of the water. They also dive to a 

 great depth in search of prawns. As the air which tliey have the power of accumulating 

 in the trachea permits them to remain some time under water, without coming to the 

 surface to respire, they only reappear at very considei'able distances. Tliough their 

 wings are short, their flight is long and rujiid ; but the sihiatiou of 1 heir feet renders 



Men 



t Mcr^riis M('V{;iiiis(>i'. 



