RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. ios 



RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 



RED-BREASTED GOOSANDER. 



PLATE CC. FIGURE II. 



Mergus serrator, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



rriHE places chosen by this species for nesting are 

 -*- the vicinage of the sea, and the neighbourhood 

 of lakes and rivers, among reeds and rushes. 



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 distance from the mainland. 

 The materials of its composition are moss, flags, 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 



VOL. in. p 



