THE MERGANSERS. 6^ 



the lower flanks; three twin spots on the back, one pair behind 

 the wing, another on each side of the lower back, and another 

 on each side of the rump ; head more reddish-brown ; cheeks 

 and a streak below the eye white; the ear-coverts and eyebrow 

 rufous, this colour extending down the sides of the neck ; 

 from behind the eye a streak of dark brown. 



Characters. — The Red-breasted Merganser is a smaller bird 

 than the Goosander, and the male is distinguished by its 

 rufous fore-neck and by the grey frecklings on the lower back 

 and the wavy bars on the sides of the body, as well as by the 

 white markings on the ornamental black patch at the sides of 

 the upper breast. The females resemble each other more, but 

 the smaller size of the Red-breasted Merganser and its browner 

 colour distinguish it. The Goosander is altogether more grey, 

 especially on the flanks, which are dark brown in the Red- 

 breasted Merganser. In the female of the latter, moreover, 

 the black bases to the white secondaries are more prominent, 

 and the inner secondaries are margined with black. 



Range in Great Britain. — The present species nests in Scotland 

 and Ireland, but is only a winter visitor to the coasts of Eng- 

 land, and is very seldom found inland. In the north and west 

 of Scotland it breeds on the inland lochs as well as on the 

 coasts and in the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and Shetlands. In 

 Ireland, says Mr. R, J. Ussher, " it breeds, often in consider- 

 able numbers, chiefly on islands in lakes and estuaries, in 

 Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Westmeath, Louth, Tipperary, 

 Kerry, Clare, Galway, Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo, and Leitrim. 

 Next to the Wild Duck and Teal, this is the commonest 

 breeding Duck in Ireland." 



Range outside tlie British Islands. — The Red-breasted Merganser 

 breeds throughout the northern portions of both hemispheres 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and wanders south in winter 

 to the United States and the Bermudas. In the Old World 

 it is found in winter throughout the Mediterranean, the Black 

 Sea, and the Caspian, and in the east it visits China and Japan ; 

 but though it is found on the Persian Gulf in winter, it 

 appears to visit India but rarely, as it has only been recorded 

 twice, in each case from Sind. 



Habits. — Like its relations, the Red-breasted Merganser is a 



