OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 443 



Nidification. The favourite breeding grounds of the Goosander are open 

 swampy forests, in which there are plenty of lakes and rock-bound streams and 

 rivers. It is a somewhat early breeder, laying towards the end of April in the 

 British Islands and in Denmark, and a month or six weeks later in Finland. 

 Dybowsky states that it arrives at its breeding grounds near Lake Baikal by the 

 middle of April, which is early for that cold region, and remains until December. 

 The Goosander, wherever it can obtain one, prefers a hole in a tree, but in 

 sparsely-wooded districts a cleft or hole in a rock or cliff not far from the water 

 is used instead. It has been known to breed in an old nest of a Crow, or in the 

 top of a pollard. According to Selby, Dresser, Dybowsky, and others, the^nest is 

 sometimes made on the ground amongst grass, but this must be highly excep- 

 tional if the observers named were not actually in error in identifying the species. 

 In Finland the Goosander readily avails itself of boxes or hollow logs placed in 

 the trees by the peasants, and submits very patiently to the daily removal of its 

 eggs to the number sometimes of a score. The nest of this bird is slight, little 

 more than the dust and refuse at the bottom of the hole selected, but warmly 

 lined with plenty of down before the eggs are incubated. The eggs are from 

 eight to twelve in number, creamy-white in colour, smooth in texture, and with a 

 satin-like gloss. They measure on an average 2'7 inches in length by 1'8 inch in 

 breadth. The down tufts are large and uniform greyish-white. Incubation lasts 

 twenty-eight days. The young are carried to the nearest water one by one in the 

 bill of the parent, and until they are considerably advanced towards maturity do 

 not stray far from the shallow water. One brood only is reared in the year. 



Diagnostic characters (Nuptial plumage), Merganser, with the head 

 (crested) and upper neck black, shot with green and purple, and with the lower 

 neck and the whole of the underparts pure white, with a rosy tinge on the breast 

 and belly (adult male) ; with the head (crested) and upper neck chestnut, and 

 with the wing varying from 9'5 to 10'25 inches in length (adult female). Length, 

 25 to 28 inches (male) ; 22 to 25 inches (female). 



