442 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



of the United States, and occasionally the Bermudas. The American representative 

 of the Goosander, and perhaps only superficially distinct. Typical examples may 

 be distinguished from the Goosander by having a narrow black bar across the 

 greater wing coverts. M. comatus, an inhabitant of Central Asia, including the 

 Himalayas. Distinguished by being smaller in size, and in having the crest 

 feathers fewer, narrower, and longer, the bill shorter, and (in the male) the black 

 margins of the tertials broader, the lower back and rump paler grey, and much 

 freckled with white. M. squamatus, from China (?), a doubtful species, described 

 from an immature bird by Gould, possibly a hybrid between the Goosander and 

 the Bed-breasted Merganser. 



Habits. During winter the Goosander with us is for the most part a coast 

 bird, showing a preference for sea lochs and the quiet bays of a rocky shore, such 

 as are so common on the west of Scotland, but it may be met with in estuaries, as 

 well as on broads and inland lakes. In Lower India, however, it is almost 

 exclusively confined during the cold season to rivers, and those where the bed is 

 rocky or sandy are preferred to others which flow over clay or alluvial soil. It is 

 a hardy bird, and lingers in its summer haunts until the waters are frozen, not 

 leaving the pools and streams of the Himalayas until December, and quitting its 

 southern retreats again in March. The same remarks apply to the individuals 

 breeding at elevations of from 8,000 to 11,000 feet in Central Asia ; they linger 

 until driven down by the ice sealing their favourite haunts. The Goosander is a 

 remarkably agile bird in the water, swimming and diving with wonderful skill. 

 When going down stream it sits high on the water, but when swimming against 

 the current its body is kept low, so that the oar-like feet may work to the best 

 advantage. It is capable of diving a great depth, and remains under water for as 

 much as two minutes at a stretch. It flies well and with great speed, but rises 

 from the surface with difficulty, flapping along for several yards before it gets clear 

 into the air. The Goosander does not spend much of its time on shore, but when 

 gorged with food it will often sit and bask, like a Cormorant, on some rock 

 rising out of deep water, resting with its body upright and with its wings half 

 expanded. It seldom rests far from the water's edge, and when disturbed wriggles 

 forward with its breast almost touching the ground, in a very Diver-like manner. 

 It is a wary bird, much more so than the Red-breasted Merganser. The note of 

 this species is a harsh karr, but on the whole it is a remarkably silent bird. The 

 Goosander feeds almost exclusively on fish ranging from two to six inches in 

 length, but aquatic insects, mollusks, and shell-fish are eaten, and the remains of 

 vegetable substances have been found in its stomach. Most of these creatures 

 are obtained by diving, and sometimes when feeding in flocks the entire party of 

 birds will dive simultaneously, although it is more usual to see several individuals 

 on the surface, as if acting as sentinels for the rest. The flesh of this Duck is 

 said to be rank and fishy, and most unpalatable. 



