446 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



old Highlander who used to swear by a fat Merganser, which he partly boiled 

 first and then baked or roasted ! This bird always tries to elude pursuit by 

 diving at least, such is ray experience both when in pairs and in flocks, only 

 taking wing when the chase has evidently become too hot. 



Nidification. In the British Islands the breeding season of the Red- 

 breasted Merganser begins in May, and the eggs are laid during the latter half 

 of that month and the first half of June ; but in more northern latitudes they 

 are about a month later. This bird can scarcely be called gregarious during the 

 breeding season, although many pairs may nest within a comparatively small 

 area, especially in places where suitable sites are scarce. I should say they are 

 distributed in more or less scattered pairs, each keeping much to itself. An 

 island is preferred for a nesting-place, but where such is not available a quiet 

 part of the mainland is chosen. All the nests that I have seen, and I have seen 

 a good round number, were situated on rocky islets, except one, and that was on 

 a portion of the' shore which became an island at high water. The nest is 

 usually made under a rock or bank ; but rabbit burrows and crevices in walls 

 are sometimes selected, and it is even placed among heather, bracken, and furze, 

 at no great distance from the water in our Islands, but often some distance from 

 the sea in wooded localities in other countries. The nest is scanty and in many 

 cases is dispensed with altogether, the eggs lying on the ground until sufficient 

 down accumulates to protect them. When a nest is made, it is merely a hollow 

 into which a little dry grass and dried leaves are placed, finished off with a warm 

 lining of down from the body of the female. The eggs are from eight to twelve 

 in number and olive-grey of various shades in colour, smooth in texture, and 

 with some little gloss. They measure on an average 2'6 inches in length by 1'7 

 inch in breadth. The down tufts are large, pale brownish-grey in colour, with 

 obscure pale centres and tips. Incubation, performed entirely by the female, 

 lasts twenty-eight days. Sometimes she sits very closely, but generally slips off 

 at the first sign of danger and goes right away at once. The male is never seen 

 at the nest, but he is generally stationed on the sea close by, and joins his mate 

 when she leaves her eggs to come and feed ; whilst as soon as the young brood 

 are abroad he retires to moult. The young soon take to the sea with their 

 mother, and are remarkably active both in swimming and diving. 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, with the lower neck 

 and upper breast buff streaked with black, with black margins to the white 

 feathers on the sides of the breast, and with the flanks strongly vermiculated 

 with greyish-black (adult male) ; with the head (crested) and upper neck pale 

 chestnut, and with the wing varying from 8'25 to 9 inches in length (adult 

 female). Length, 24 to 26 inches (male) ; 22 to 23 inches (female). 



