THE GOOSANDER 175 



himself to the required level. To his intense gratifica- 

 tion, there was the nest, containing six beautiful eggs of 

 a pale creamy tinge, reposing on a thick layer of creamy 

 down. 



For some time there had been no appearance of the 

 Goosander, but now she anxiously crossed and recrossed 

 the gorge, during her last flight bringing with her a couple 

 of her tribe, attracted either from sympathy or from 

 curiosity, to see for themselves the cause of her anxiety. 

 Up stream the loch narrows at its tail end, and the burn 

 commences its course with a pool of great depth, known 

 locally as the Black Pool. Here our Goosander halted, 

 and, dipping down to the water's surface, swam suspiciously 

 about, her brown head moving expectantly from side 

 to side as she watched and waited for the moment when 

 she could with safety return to her nest. A little later 

 on the mother Goosander carried her young, one at a 

 time, down to the water's edge, and led them by degrees 

 up the burn to the Loch of the Willow. Here she gradu- 

 ally instilled into them the art of catching the rapid 

 moving trout or the rose-tinted char, or she perhaps — if her 

 brood became wearied — took them on her back and swam 

 quietly around while her little ones dried themselves in 

 the strong June sunlight. Not till summer has left the 

 hills, and the birches fringing the loch have shed the very 

 last of their golden leaves, will the Goosander leave the 

 Loch of the Willow. Their course will lead them 

 south'ard, for the hill loch will soon be in the grijj of the 

 ice, and not till they have, maybe, reached the waters 

 of some English lake will they descend, and here take up 

 their quarters for the winter. 



Even when quite babies, the young of the Goosander 

 are perfectly at home on the water. They can dive well, 

 and remain a considerable time below the surface. They 

 can also swim almost entirely submerged, only the top of 



