99 



RED-BKEASTED MERGANSER. 



BED-BREASTED GOOSANDER. 

 PLATE CC. PIG. I. 



Mergus serrator, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



THESE birds build, it seems, on the borders of, and small islands 

 in, lakes, whether of fresh or salt-water, and rivers, preferring such 

 as have a growth of wood, the nest being placed a few yards from 

 the edge, at the foot of a tree, or under the shelter of brushwood, 

 in the midst of fern, grass, nettles, or other wild vegetation. Also in 

 divers other situations, among stones, in a hollow, on the bare ground, 

 at the top of a tall tree, or in the deserted nest of some other bird, 

 or the end of a deep recess. It has been known, moreover, in a 

 bleak and unsheltered situation, on an island in the sea, at some dis- 

 tance from the mainland. The materials of its composition are moss, 

 flags, stalks, grass, small roots, and feathers, placed carelessly together, 

 and intermixed with the down of the bird, added to, it appears, as 

 incubation advances. 



The eggs are from six or seven, to nine, ten, or eleven, in number, 

 and of a rich reddish yellow, or brownish fawn-colour. As soon as 

 the females begin to sit, the males quit them for the season. The 

 species appears to be late in its nidification, scarcely beginning to 

 build before the end of May, or the early part of June. The bird sits 

 very close, and will almost allow herself to be trodden on before it 

 will leave the nest. 



