212 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
Distribution : Residenggm Southern Europe and Northern 
Africa, ranging into South-western Asia. 
Habitat : Fresh-water lakes where reeds or other aquatic 
plants abound. Also frequents the neighbourhood of the 
coast. 
Genus MERGUS. 
GOOSANDER. 
Mergus merganser Lenn. 
Adult Male: Entire Zead and fore neck black, glossed with 
green; fore part of back, most of scapulars and primaries 
black : lower back, rump and tail ash-grey ; secondaries and 
wing- -coverts pure white; rest of plumage w47?/e, suffused (when 
alive) with delicate salmon-buff ; bill vermilion with black nail ; 
legs and feet orange with darker webs; irides red. Length 
about 20. inches > culmen (2:4; wing »10'5. to: a1.5 wralaeee 
LArSUS "OQ tO"2, 
Adult Female: Head and fore neck pale chestnut, shading 
into white on chin ; occipital feathers conspicuously crested ; 
upper parts generally slaty-grey, streaked with brown; prima- 
ries dusky-brown ; central rectrices and broad tips of greater 
wing-coverts white ; beneath white, marked on sides and flanks 
with grey ; bill, legs and feet less bright than in male. Slightly 
smaller. 
Males in moulting dress: Closely resemble adult 
females but have traces of a black ring round the neck, are 
darker on the back and shoulders, and show the whitish wae 
of the immature bird (Seebohm). 
Young: Resemble adult females, but are dullerand possess 
short occipital plumes. 
Distribution: Inhabits the Palearctic and Nearctic 
regions, breeding in the north and migrating southward in 
autumn. 
Habitat: Chiefly frequents fresh waters not far from the 
coast, but is also often met with in bays or estuaries of the sea. 
