148 BRITAIN^S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



a concealed position, such as the hollow under the roots 

 of an old tree, the heart of a briar thicket, or even 

 a Sheldrake's burrow. Towards the end of May the 

 greenish-gray eggs are laid, and a quantity of pale drab 

 down is added to the scanty nest. The clutch may be 

 anything up to ten in number, but rarely more. 



As in the case of the more typical Ducks, the drake 

 takes no share in the duties of incubation and the rearing 

 of the young ; but he may often be seen in the vicinity 

 of the nesting haunt. 



Like other ducklings, the young Mergansers soon take 

 to the water. There they are zealously tended by their 

 parents for several weeks, being kept largely to the 

 shallows at first for fear of the pike, which are always 

 hungry and on the lookout for such prey. By August, 

 however, the young Mergansers are well able to fend for 

 themselves, and we may then see them flying up and 

 down the river, or swimming and diving off shore. The 

 Merganser and its congeners are of necessity more dexter- 

 ous in the water than those other diving ducks which are 

 merely bottom -feeders, and are not notable except on 

 account of the depth to which they can descend and the 

 time they can remain under water. On land the Mer- 

 ganser sits nearly upright. The name ' Shelduck ' is 

 sometimes popularly misapplied to this species. 



THE GOOSANDER 



(Mergus merganser). 



The Goosander is a larger and handsomer bird than the 

 Merganser, and much less widely distributed in the British 

 Isles. As a breeding species within our area it is con- 

 fined to the Scottish mainland, from Deeside, Strathspey, 



