GOOSANDER. 293 



These birds usually make tlieir appearance in November, 

 especially in severe weather, and remain till the end of 

 March ; but the greater proportion of them are females, or 

 young birds of the year : the fully adult male may be con- 

 sidered as the most rare. All of them frequent fresh-vi^ater 

 lakes as well as the sea-shore and estuaries, but if severe 

 frost occurs they are driven to the shelter of deep bays, 

 where, by their powers of diving they are able to obtain a 

 supply of fish, the principal object sought after as food. 

 Possessing strong tooth-like processes on the bill, by which 

 it is enabled to hold a slippery prey, this bird, like the 

 Red-breasted Merganser, is also called Sawbill and Jacksaw. 



Goosanders in any state are rare visiters to the southern 

 counties of England, but have been killed during hard win- 

 ters in Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and eastward to 

 Sussex, Kent, and Essex. A few are occasionally exposed 

 for sale in winter in the London markets, and specimens 

 are obtained in Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and north- 

 ward to Durham, and Northumberland. In Suthcrlandshire, 

 Mr. Selby mentions that two or three birds of this species 

 were seen in June 1834, during the Natural History ex- 

 cursion, but no nest or breeding station detected. Mr. J. 

 Macgillivray, in his recently published notes on the Zoology 

 of the Outer Hebrides, says the Goosander is pretty common, 

 breeding close to the larger lakes, and occasionally by the 

 sea, as near Loch Maddy in North Uist. In Ireland, Mr. 

 Thompson, of Belfast, observes, that the Goosander is only a 

 regular winter visiter. The Rev. Mr. Low, in his Natural 

 History of Orkney, says, " With us the Goosander con- 

 tinues the whole year, and may be seen every day in num- 

 bers on the lakes and in the sea ; bviilds on the small holms 

 of the loch of Stenness, along with other birds ; in harvest 

 and in winter fly in flocks, in summer in pairs ; the male 

 and female are then strict companions, but, like many other 



