THE SAWBILLED-DUCKS 



[ORDER: Anseriformes. SUBORDER: Ans&res. FAMILY: Anatidce. 



SUBFAMILY: Mergince] 



PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



GOOSANDER [Mergus merganser Linnaeus. Sawbill, sawneb (generic), 

 dun-diver, stock-annet, stock-gander. French, grand harle ; German, 

 grosser Sager ; Italian, smergo maggiore]. 



I. Description. The goosander may at once be distinguished from the 

 merganser by its markedly superior size, the pronounced forward extension of the 

 feathers of the forehead on to the base of the culmen, and of the feathers of the 

 throat which extend forwards beyond the level of the nostril, while there is no 

 black bar across the wing. The sexes differ in coloration, and there is a marked 

 seasonal change of plumage. (PL 165.) Length 26 in. [660 mm.]. The male has 

 the head and upper part of the neck black glossed with green, and the feathers of 

 the nape slightly elongated. The interscapulars and inner scapulars are black, the 

 outer white, and the lower back is ash-grey. The wing-coverts are mostly white, 

 as are the secondaries, which are narrowly margined with black. The lower part 

 of the neck and the whole of the under parts are white, the latter with a delicate 

 tinge of salmon-pink, which disappears soon after death. The beak and iris are 

 red, the legs and toes orange-red. In his eclipse dress the male is to be distin- 

 guished from the female by his darker back, and a more or less distinct black 

 ring round the neck. The female has the head and neck of a bright chesnut-red, 

 contrasting with a white throat. The upper parts are of a light slate-grey, save the 

 outermost scapulars, which have the outermost web white. The major coverts 

 are broadly tipped with white, and have a subterminal dusky spot on the inner 

 web, and the inner secondaries are white. The under parts are white save the 

 flanks, which are more or less barred and vermiculated with grey. The young in 



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