80 



RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 



RED-BREASTED GOOSANDER. 

 PLATE CC. FIG. I. 



Mergus serrator, . . . Pennant. Montagu. 



These birds build, it seems, on the borders of, and 

 small islands in, lakes, whether of fresh or salt-water, 

 and rivers, preferring such as have a growth of wood, 

 the nest being placed a few yards from the edge, at 

 the foot of a tree, or under the shelter of brushwood, 

 in the midst of fern, grass, nettles, or other wild 

 vegetation. Also in divers other situations, among stones, 

 in a hollow, on the bare ground, at the top of a tall 

 tree, or in the deserted nest of some other bird, or the 

 end of a deep recess. It has been known, moreover, 

 in a bleak and unsheltered situation, on an island in 

 the sea, at some distance from the mainland. The mate- 

 rials of its composition are moss, flags, stalks, grass, small 

 roots, and feathers, placed carelessly together, and inter- 

 mixed with the down of the bird, added to, it appears, 

 as incubation advances. 



The eggs are from six or seven, to nine, ten, or eleven, 

 in number, and of a rich reddish yellow, or brownish 

 fawn-colour. As soon as the females begin to sit, the 

 males quit them for the season. The species appears 

 to be late in its nidification, scarcely beginning to build 

 before the end of May, or the early part of June. 



