472 GOOSANDER. 



as well as in North-western Africa ; but it is uncommon in the 

 Mediterranean, except in the Adriatic branch, which it reaches by 

 crossing the Alps. It is tolerably plentiful in the Black Sea, and 

 eastward it can be traced across Siberia to Kamchatka, its breeding- 

 range reaching as far south as the elevated lakes of Central Asia, 

 inclusive of those on the northern side of the Himalayas ; while in 

 the cold season the bird is found down to about lat. 22° N. in China. 

 North America is inhabited by a closely-allied sub-species, the adult 

 male of which shows a distinct black band about half-way across the 

 wing-patch. 



Toward the end of April in Denmark and East Prussia, but 

 somewhat later in Sweden, the Goosander lays its eggs in hollow 

 trees, or avails itself of the nesting-boxes set up by the natives for 

 various species of Ducks ; while in Scotland a hole in the trunk 

 of a tree (frequently an alder), a recess beneath gnarled roots, a 

 hole in a peat-bog, or sometimes a sheltered ledge of rock, are the 

 localities selected. The down is greyish-white; the eggs, 8-13 in 

 number, are of a creamy- or buff-white, very different from the 

 greenish-drab of those of the Red-breasted Merganser : measure- 

 ments 2 '6 by I "8 in. Booth remarked that until the young attained 

 the age of a month or five weeks, the female usually kept them in 

 the shallows, where there was less danger of their falling victims to 

 their great enemy, the pike ; he also noticed that although the 

 young birds had no pinion-feathers, they appeared, on rising after a 

 dive, to flap along the surface for a yard or two, striking the water 

 with their feet. The note is described by Mr. Oswin Lee as a 

 harsh karrr. The food consists almost entirely of fish. 



The adult male has the greater part of the bill blood-red ; irides 

 red ; head and upper neck glossy bottle-green ; lower neck and the 

 entire under parts white, tinged with salmon-pink ; upper back and 

 scapulars black ; wing-coverts chiefly white ; primaries and some of 

 the secondaries ash-brown ; lower back and tail ash-grey ; legs and 

 toes orange-red. Length 26 in. ; wing 11 in. The female has the 

 head — with its small crest — and the upper neck reddish-brown ; 

 chin dull white ; upper parts chiefly ash-grey, with dark brown inner 

 secondaries and quills, and a white wing-patch ; under parts buffish- 

 white, mottled with ash-grey on the sides ; bill, legs and feet duller 

 than in the male. Length 24 in. ; wing 10 in. The young at first 

 resemble the female, but a rudimentary dark collar soon makes its 

 appearance in the drakes ; these do not attain their full plumage 

 until the second year. 



