GOOSANDER. 489 



of this species usually make their appearance in November, 

 especially in severe weather, and remain till the end of 

 March ; but the greater proportion of them are females, or 

 young birds of the year : the fully-adult male being com- 

 paratively rare. All of them frequent fresh-water lakes as 

 well as the sea- shore and estuaries, but if severe frost occurs 

 they are driven to the shelter of deep bays, where, by their 

 powers of diving, they are able to obtain a supply of fish, 

 their principal food. Possessing strong tooth-like processes 

 on the bill, by which it is enabled to hold a slippery prey, 

 this bird, like the Red-breasted Merganser, is also called 

 Saw-bill and Jack-saw. 



Goosanders in any state of plumage are somewhat irregu- 

 lar visitors to the southern counties of England, although 

 they are sometimes more abundant in certain localities than 

 the Red-breasted Merganser. Examples have been killed 

 during winter in Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and 

 eastward to Sussex, Kent, and Essex ; and a few are 

 occasionally exposed for sale in winter in the London 

 markets. On the east coast they are observed nearly 

 every year, and in numbers exceeding those of the other 

 species. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., informs the Editor that 

 even in the mild weather of last December and January, 

 Goosanders, in flocks of six or seven females or immature 

 birds with one adult male, had been spending the winter on 

 the waters of Holkam Park and the vicinity ; seven such 

 flocks being counted by Mr. S. G. Buxton. Northward to 

 Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland, the 

 Goosander is found in suitable localities, wherever estuaries, 

 or inland waters abounding with fish, invite a stay. On 

 the west side of England it is rarer, although of tolerably 

 general distribution. 



In Scotland it is found on both coasts in winter ; but 

 although common in the Orkneys, it appears to be a rare 

 visitor to the not distant Shetlands. There can be little 

 doubt that the statements of the late John Macgillivray and 

 Dr. Dewar respecting its supposed breeding in the Hebrides, 

 and of Low as to the Orkneys, refer to the Red-breasted 



VOL. IV. 8 R 



