ANATIDA. : 521 
to be taken advantage of by the Laplanders, as in 
the case of the Goldeneye before mentioned, for the 
purpose of procuring the eggs. When stumps of 
trees are not to be found the nest is placed amongst 
stones, in long grass or under cover of bushes: it is 
made of a mass of grass, roots, and other matter, 
mixed and lined with down.* 
The adult male is certainly a splendid bird, con- 
siderably exceeding in size the Redbreasted Mer- 
ganser. The bill is vermilion-red, the nail and a 
ridge on the upper mandible black; irides red; head 
and neck black, glossed with green and purple, 
according to the light; a collar at the back of the 
neck, the breast and all the under parts are a rich 
buff, tinged with salmon-colour ;+ the higher part of 
the back and some of the scapulars, and of the tertials 
nearest the body, are black; the rest of the scapulars 
and tertials are the same colour as the under parts; 
the lesser wing-coverts nearest the body are black, 
margined with white; all the rest of the lesser 
coverts, and all the greater, are white, exeept a few 
* Yarrell, vol. ii., p. 400. 
+ In stuffed specimens this beautiful delicate colour 
generally fades to white. I have managed to preserve the 
original colour pretty well in my bird, as I always keep the 
blind and shutters closed in my bird-room, so as to exclude 
the daylight as much as possible, and I find this precaution 
keeps the colours of all the birds much fresher and brighter 
than is generally the case in collections of stuffed birds. 
2x3 
