GOOSANDER — SMEW. 207 



1887 (A. H. Maepherson in lit.). In the north of the 

 county also an example was shot at Adderbury (W. Wyatt), 

 The Messrs. Matthews write that it was often to be met with 

 on our rivers during severe frost, but seldom visited us in milder 

 weather {Zoologist., p. 2540). 



m 



THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, 



Mergus serrator. 

 The Red-breasted Merganser is an occasional winter visitor, 

 btit of less frequent occurrence than the preceding" species. 

 The Messrs. jNIatthews record one shot on Otmoor in February, 

 1838, and two near Cassington in the winter of 1841 [Zoologist, 

 p. 254°)> while the Rev. H. A. Maepherson has seen several 

 immature birds which had been procured on the Isis in the 

 neighbourhood of Oxford. Mr. G. Jackson, when living at 

 Greenlands, near Henley, shot a female on the river there, on 

 the 23rd January, 1848 (A. H. Cocks in lit.). In the north 

 of the county a Red-breasted Merganser was shot in the 

 neighbourhood of Wardington, on the Northamptonshire 

 borders, in January, 1877 (C. M. Prior, Zoologist, 1877). The 

 two birds procured at Cassington are a male and female, and 

 are preserved in the Oxford Museum. 



9. A A 



THE SMEW. 4.^' ^ 



Mergus albellus. 

 The Smew is an occasional winter visitor. The Messrs. 

 Matthews, writing of this species, say that ' althoug-h many 

 females and young birds are annually killed in this county, 

 yet the old males seldom appear except in the severest seasons. 

 In January, 1838, three adult males were killed at one shot on 

 the Isis near Oxford ' [Zoologist, p. 2540). In the University 

 Museum are examples of the adult male, and of the young, 

 labelled ' Hampton Gay,^ and ' Sandford,' respectively. Mr. 

 W. Newton, jun., has one which was shot on the Thames at 

 Benson [in lit.). 



