RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 227 



young birds arrive on our coast late in autumn or in 

 the early winter, and depart about the middle of March, 

 but owing to the continuance of cold weather in the 

 spring of 1845, many winter birds stayed with us longer 

 than usual, and Mr. Gurney had the opportunity of 

 examining an adult pair of red-breasted mergansers at 

 a Norwich bird-stuffer's, on 12th April of that year; 

 and an instance is recorded by Mr. Stevenson of an 

 immature merganser having been killed here as late 

 as the 28th April. In Sir William Hooker's MS. 

 occurs a note initialled D[awson] T[urner], which 

 states that many specimens of this bird were " shot 

 near Yarmouth, December, 1829, and January and 

 February, 1830. Before that time very seldom seen." 

 Mr. Stevenson remarks that it is somewhat singular 

 that in the extraordinary winter of 1860-1 not a 

 single old male, as far as he could learn, was killed 

 in this county, though females and young were plenti- 

 ful, but, in the less severe spring of 1855, between 

 the 28th February and the end of March, four magni- 

 ficent males, in their rich adult plumage, were shot at 

 Surlingham, flickling, and Yarmouth ; a fine pair were 

 also shot at Salthouse, in January^ 1854. Mr. Dowell 

 mentions that they were unusually abundant at Blakeney 

 in 1846-47 ; and again, in November, 1852, a greater 

 number than usual made their appearance in that 

 locality, but all immature birds. They usually make 

 their appearance at Blakeney towards the end of October, 

 and are known to the gunners of that coast as " steel- 

 ducks/' from the blue colour which is most observable 

 when they are on the wing. Several old males were 

 killed in this county about the middle of February, 1870, 

 as well as a number of immature birds ; and in January 

 and February, 1871, other adults were obtained, and im- 

 mature birds were rather numerous. No remarkable 

 visitation has occurred since 1871, to my knowledge; in 

 fact of late years this species in all stages has been 

 somewhat of a rarity with us, the reverse, as will be 

 seen, of the next species^ and I believe this remark also 

 applies to the Yorkshire coast. 



A very remarkable instance of the assumption, to a 

 certain extent, of the male plumage by a female red- 

 2F2 



