THE GOOSANDER 



MERGUS MERGANSER 



Iach Fhiacailleach (Gaelic) ; Grand-harle (French) ; Grosser Sa^er 

 (German). Local names : — Sawbill, Saw-neb, Dun-diver. 



It is a debatable point whether certain of our Highland 

 birds have extended their breeding range farther south 

 during the last half century, or whether, with the growth 

 of interest in ornithology, more interest in the nesting of 

 these birds is now taken than was formerly the case, and 

 so fresh discoveries are being brought to light. Be that 

 as it may, it is an undoubted fact that more than one bird 

 which was formerly quite unknown as a nesting species 

 in Great Britain is now found regularly in certain localities. 

 The Goosander is a case in point. The fii'st record of 

 its nesting in Scotland was obtained so recently as in 

 1871 from Perthshire, while now (1914) it is by no means 

 a rare bird north of the Tay during the months of spring 

 and summer, and is looked on with scant favour by fisher- 

 men on account of the large number of young trout and 

 salmon which it consumes — so much so that it has re- 

 cently been in several districts removed from the lists of 

 those birds protected by law. 



The Goosander is such a handsome bird that its ex- 

 termination would be a most regrettable occurrence, still I 

 am bound to say that the damage worked by a pair of 

 these birds amongst the trout of a hill burn is extensive. 

 Not long ago I had occasion to traverse one of these 

 burns for a considerable distance. The district was one 

 of the wildest in Scotland, with not a single croft visible 



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