198 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



near I was careful to keep to the water's edge lest 

 the bird should attempt to get to the water first ; 

 then I moved slowly up to the rocks where I knew 

 he must be. He made a frantic effort to get to the 

 water, but I collared him all right in his vain 

 attempt. The young birds in the case were obtained 

 years afterwards. They are not much more than a 

 day to one and a half days old, and were hatched 

 out of the shell for me by a keeper in Argyleshire 

 who was rearing pheasants at the time. 



The Red Breasted Merganser is a most destruc- 

 tive bird to trout, and will do an enormous amount 

 of damage on trout lakes. There are thousands of 

 these birds in our islands ; there is, therefore, not 

 much fear of their becoming extinct — especially when 

 you take into consideration that they are extremely 

 wary, very difficult of approach, diving immediately 

 on the least sign of a human being, and going out 

 seawards. 



I will conclude with a little extract. Mr. W. H. 

 Hudson says : " They feed on small fishes and 

 molluscs, which they take by diving ; near the shore 

 where the water is shallow, they are often seen with 

 head and neck almost continuously immersed as 

 they explore among the seaweed at the bottom for 

 food. They swim like the Cormorant, having the 

 faculty of sinking the body beneath the surface, and 

 also dive like that bird, springing up and plunging 

 down almost vertically. The favourite nesting- 

 place is on an island under the shelter of a rock. 

 Sometimes in a hole in the ground." This species 

 has a very wide range in the northern hemisphere. 



