MERGANSERS. 4°: 



awkward upon land. They are natives of the coldest climates, 

 and may be found during the summer or breeding season in very 

 high latitudes. They build their nests on the margins of water, 

 either concealed under a large stone or placed under the cover 

 of bushes. The nest is composed of grass and other vegetable 

 materials, mixed, and lined with any kind of soft substances, and 



Fig. 199. —The Goosander {Mergus Jileygaitser). 



The type of this sub-family — 



The Dun Diver or Goosander {Mergtis Merj^anser), is widely distri- 

 buted throughout the Arctic regions both of the Old and the New World. 

 In Europe, during its southern migration, it visits France, Holland, and Ger- 

 many, and is also a well-known winter visitant upon the coasts, lakes, and 

 rivers of the United States. During the summer the great body of these birds 

 retire very far north for the purpose of reproduction, and at that time they are 

 found in Iceland and Greenland. In Asia, they visit Siberia and Kamtschatka; 

 and in America, during the breeding season, they are spread through the 

 northern districts of that vast continent. Their nest is there constructed, 

 near the edge of the water, of a mass of grass, roots, and other materials, and 

 lined with down. It is placed sometimes among stones, and sometimes in 

 the long grass or under the cover of bushes, and, when the locality affords 

 them, in the stumps or hollows of decayed trees. The eggs are from twelve 

 to fourteen in number, of a cream-yellow colour ; their form is a long oval, 

 both ends being equally obtuse. The goosander, except when on the wing, 

 is almost always seen upon the water, being unable to make much progress 



26—2 



