76 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



orange, and in some birds are said to be yellowish green. 

 There is also difference of opinion about the irides, which 

 Gould figures as yellowish white in both sexes ; descriptions 

 vary from " bright yellow " to white, but in some females and 

 young birds they are said to be brown. Length, 21 ins. 

 Wing, 9"5 ins. Tarsus, i'$ ins. 



Goosander. Mergus merganser Linn. 



Although several ducks will occasionally eat fish, the " saw- 

 billed ducks '' are the only ones that habitually fish for a 

 living ; their long, narrow, serrated bills are well fitted for 

 catching and holding slippery prey. The Goosander (Plate 29), 

 the largest of the group, inhabits northern Europe and Asia, 

 migrating south in winter, and regularly visits estuaries and 

 inland waters in Scotland and northern England. Elsewhere 

 in Britain and Ireland it is more casual. In the north of 

 Scotland a number nest annually. 



The Goosander shares with the Red-breasted Merganser the 

 popular name of" Sawbill." The handsome drake, with glossy 

 green-black head, black and white wings, grey lower back, and 

 salmon-pink under parts, cannot be confused with the long- 

 crested and ruddy-breasted Merganser drake, but the brown- 

 headed, grey-backed females are very much alike. The 

 Goosander is the larger bird, but size is of no value when the 

 two are not together ; the wing patch is not, as has been stated, 

 single in one and double in the other, but in both a black line 

 crosses the white. Perhaps the best distinction is in the mane- 

 like crest, which in the Goosander is graduated from the nape 

 to the lower neck, whereas in the Merganser it is long at its 

 highest and lowest point and short between ; when it stands 

 out it looks more ragged. On the west coast and on western 

 inland waters the Goosander is far more of a fresh-water duck 

 than the other ; it seldom appears on the shores and estuaries, 



