ANSERES. ( 128 ) ANATIDJE. 



THE GOOSANDER. 



SAW BILL, DUN DIVER, JACK LAW, GREATER GOOSANDER. 



Mergus merganser. 



The Gosander with them, my goodly fens do shew. 

 His head as ebon black, the rest as white as snow. 



Drayton. 



The Goosander is a visitor from the north, which is fre- 

 quently seen during the winter and early spring months on 

 the inland waters of Berwickshire, including the Tweed, 

 Whitadder, and Leader,^ when it is also observed on the sea- 

 coast of the county. The adult male in full plumage, with 

 his shining green head and rich pinkish cream-coloured 

 breast, is one of the most beautiful of our water-fowl, but 

 he is of much less frequent occurrence than immature 

 birds of the same sex and females in their dull coloured 

 coats. 



This species is very destructive to fish, which it catches 

 readily with its serrated bill. Mr. Brotherston, bird-stuffer, 

 Kelso, writing on the effects of the severe winter of 1878-79, 

 says : " Goosanders have been numerous and fat. Nearly 

 every one I have dissected has been gorged with trout and 

 parr in various stages of digestion, and measuring from three 

 up to nine and a half inches in length." 



Although the Goosander generally departs towards the 

 end of March for its breeding quarters in the north of 



^ Mr. Kelly mentions St. Leonard's Cauld, on the Leader, as a well-known 

 haunt of the Goosander. — Hist. Ber. Nat. Chtb, vol. vii. p. 305. 



