122 OUR MIGRANT BIRDS 



dull green. Length 23 in. Female, ruddy brown, 

 barred with blackish brown. Young, much like female. 



Language. — Usually very silent. It utters a moaning 

 cry, like '* ah-woe-o-a-woo," much like the Long-tailed 

 Duck. Female utters a harsh croak. 



Habits. — Gregarious throughout the year. It is a 

 powerful swimmer and expert diver, and flies rapidly 

 at no great elevation above the water. Its food is ob- 

 tained at the bottom of the sea. The hen bird is tame 

 when sitting, but if rudely disturbed she squirts a 

 stinking fluid over her eggs. 



Food. — Many kinds of Crustacea, sea-weed, &c. 



Nest. — End of May. One brood. 



Site. — Amongst coarse herbage, &c., near water. 



Materials. — Grass, sea-weed, and heather, profusely 

 lined with the celebrated down, which is mouse-brown in 

 colour with whitish centres, and very elastic. 



Eggs, — Five to eight. Dull greyish green. 



GOOSANDER (Mergus merganser). 



A not uncommon winter visitor to our coasts, estuaries, 

 and fresh-water lakes. Breeds sparingly in the highlands 

 of Scotland. 



Plumage. — Head, short crest, and upper neck dark 

 green ; lower neck and under parts white, suffused with 

 pink ; upper back and scapulars black. Wing-coverts 

 white. Primaries ash-brown. Lower back and tail 

 ash-grey. Bill blood-red and serrated. Legs and feet 

 orange-red. Length 26 in. Female, much duller, and 

 head and neck reddish brown ; white speculum. Young, 

 much like female. 



