THE GOOSANDER 201 
THE SURF SCOTER 
CG@DEMIA PERSPICILLATA 
A bony protuberance on each side of the bill near the base; no speculum ; 
general plumage black; on the forehead and nape a patch of white ; 
bill yellow, with a square black spot on each side near the base; irides 
white; feet red, the membranes black. In the female the black is 
replaced by dark ash-brown, and the white by light grey; bill dark 
olive ; feet brown, with black membranes, Lengthtwentyinches. Eggs 
white. 
ONLY a few specimens of this bird have been obtained in Europe, 
and these probably had been driven eastward by storms from North 
America, where alone they are found in any numbers. In habits 
and food the Surf Scoter resembles the common species, deriving 
its name from the pertinacity with which it selects, as its feeding- 
ground, a sandy beach over which surf rolls. It rarely or never 
visits the salt marshes. 
THE GOOSANDER 
MERGUS MERGANSER 
Head and crest greenish black; back black; speculum (not barred with 
black), under parts, wing-coverts, outer scapulars, and some of the quills, 
buff ; bill red, the ridge and nail black; feet vermilion. Length twenty- 
four to twenty-eight inches. Female and young—head and crest reddish 
brown ; breast and flanks pale buff; upper plumage dark ash; bill and 
feet dull red. Eggs dull white. 
THE Goosander is a regular winter visitor to the shores of Great 
Britain and Ireland, frequenting bays and estuaries, but preferring 
fresh-water rivers and lakes, where it makes great havoc among 
trout and other fish. It is far more abundant in the north than 
in the south, and, according to Macgillivray, is sometimes seen even 
in summer in the Scotch lochs. It has been known to breed in 
the outer Hebrides, and of late years in several parts of the High- 
lands, but the general summer residence of this species is much 
farther to the north, both in the eastern and western hemispheres. 
The habits of the Goosander and Merganser are so much alike that 
further detail is unnecessary. 
The females and young birds of the Goosander and Merganser 
are popularly called Dun-divers. 
