I'HE GOOSANDER. 4u9 



Gulls and Terns breed in immense numbers. I am disap- 

 pointed, however, in respect to the Ducks. Excepting the 

 Dusky Duck, very few kinds spend the summer on the bay. 

 Our three kinds of Merganser breed here, however, the 

 Goosander (Mergus merganser), quite commonly. During 

 this month of June there is scarcely a day in which the con- 

 spicuous female does not fly out from some nook or point 

 as the boat passes; and occasionally a group of males are 

 seen, which, as in the case of the Ducks proper, leave the 

 female after incubation commences, and spend their time 

 in small flocks in the most leisurely manner. In a very few 

 cases male and female are surprised together. Probably 

 these are instances in which incubation has not yet begun, 

 or, some accident having befallen the sitting female, she 

 has managed to recall her mate preparatory to a new litter 

 of eggs. 



The male of this species, about 24 inches long, has the 

 slightly crested head and the upper half of the neck glossy 

 green; back, tertiaries and primaries, black; the rest of the 

 wing white, with a black bar nearly across the coverts, and 

 the secondaries edged with black; lower back, beautifully' 

 penciled gray; tail ashy; lower neck and under parts white, 

 the latter delicately and richly tinged with salmon; bill, iris 

 and feet, bright red. The female is a little smaller, has the 

 more crested head and upper half of the neck, a light chest- 

 nut red; upper parts generally ashy gray, with less white in 

 the wing; under parts resembling the male, but with a 

 lighter salmon. As she flies, the red head and the white in 

 the wings are especially noticeable. 



In nidification, the Goosander seems to have a partiality 

 for small islands, of which Georgian Bay and the St. Law- 

 rence River, both favorite breeding places of this species, 

 are so full. The nest, sometimes on the ground among the 



