DUCKS. 423 



except in an accidental manner, nor do I believe that it 

 breeds on any Scandinavian coast. 



The egg is smaller than that of the last ; glossy pure 

 blue-green. 



Gen. Meryus, L. 



Bill moderate, slender, cylindrical, straight ; upper man- 

 dible tapering towards the tip, which is armed with a 

 strong hooked nail ; both mandibles deeply serrated ; nos- 

 trils pervious, medial ; legs short, placed far behind ; hind 

 toe lobed ; tarsi compressed ; tail rounded ; they moult only 

 once in the year, and the summer and winter dress are 

 the same. 



279. MERGUS MEEGANSEE, L. S tor Skrake. The Goosander. 



D. F. 



The distance from the nostrils to the tip of the beak 



scarcely longer than half of the outer toe ; neck 



bushy, especially in the male ; wing speculum white, 



undivided. Male : head green ; back black ; wings and 



shoulders white ; primaries black ; rump and tail grey ; 



all the under parts sulphur yellow ; beak dark red, with 



a black ridge ; eye red-brown ; legs red. Female : 



ash grey above, with a red-brown head and white chin ; 



tail rounded, eighteen feathers. Length 28 in.; tail 



5 in.; beak from forehead 2 in. 41.; tarsus 1 in. 71.; 



but the female is considerably smaller. 



Breeds in many parts of Scandinavia, from North 



Scandinavia up far into Lapland. Lays early ; sometimes 



in the hole of a tree, sometimes on the open ground. Eggs 



about seven; dirty yellow, pointed nearly alike at both 



ends, much like those of the merganser, but thicker, and 



hardly ever of so clear a yellow. 



280. MEEGUS SEEEATOE, L. Sma Skrake. The Eed-breasted 



Merganser. D. F. 



The bushy head feathers long and thin, forming a 

 kind of crest on the back of the head ; wing specu- 

 lum white, divided by a white band ; the distance from 



