462 RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 



extending to the lakes of Algeria, and to Egypt. It ranges across 

 Northern Siberia to the Pacific in summer, and to Japan and China 

 in winter ; but in India, where the Goosander is common during the 

 cold season, the Red-breasted Merganser is either exceedingly rare 

 or has been overlooked, for only a single example, obtained off 

 Kurrachi, is on record. In America it inhabits the northern dis- 

 tricts from the Pacific to the Atlantic, reaching as far south in 

 s-umraer as about lat. 45° N., while its winter-range extends to the 

 Bermudas. 



The nest is well concealed in heather, brushwood or long grass, 

 and is often at the end of a small tunnel which leads to the middle 

 of a thick growth of briars ; sometimes it is in the burrow of a 

 Sheld-Duck, or, in Iceland, among broken lava; exceptionally it 

 is almost open to the sky. The lining consists of a light grey down 

 with a bluish tint, and the eggs, usually laid in the latter part of 

 May and seldom more than 10 in number, are drab-colour with a 

 greenish tinge: average measurements 2 '6 by I'y in. After the 

 young are hatched the male may often be seen at no great distance 

 from the female and brood, but if approached he soon takes wing ; 

 the mother, on the contrary, remaining with the young, and diving 

 and doubling in the water with marvellous rapidity. The Merganser 

 swims very low ; on land, according to Mr. A. C. Chapman, it sits 

 nearly upright. It feeds by day, chiefly on small fish, and its flesh 

 is extremely unpalatable. 



The adult male has the bill and irides red ; head, long filamentous 

 crest and upper neck dark glossy-green ; below this a white collar, 

 divided on the nape by a narrow black line running to the back, 

 which is also black ; near the point of the wing a conspicuous tuft 

 of white feathers broadly edged with black ; the long falcated inner 

 scapulars black, and the outer ones chiefly white ; speculum white, 

 barred with black ; rump, flanks, and tail-coverts vermiculated with 

 grey ; lower neck pale chestnut-brown, streaked with black ; under 

 parts white ; legs and toes reddish-orange. Length 24 in. ; wing 

 10 in. The female is smaller and has the head and neck of a red- 

 dish-brown, like the hen Goosander— which she somewhat resembles, 

 though her back is much browner; there is a very distinct black bar 

 across the alar speculum ; and her dimensions are much less, the 

 length of her wing being only 9 in. The young resemble her 

 in plumage, but males may be recognized by a perceptible enlarge- 

 ment at the base of the trachea. They do not attain their full dress 

 till after their second autumn moult ; and the old drakes lose their 

 bright colours in summer. 



