THE GOOSANDER. 



117 



diving ducks, and are therefore more powerful on 

 the wing than the latter. Their actions, like those 

 of other divers, when alighting, are governed by 

 their power of rising. Feet and legs being near 

 the tail, they cannot fly from or pitch on the water 

 with the facility exhibited by the true Ducks. 

 On the north and east coasts of Ireland I have 

 seen from three to five Goosanders together, mixed 

 with, perhaps, twenty to thirty of the Red-breasted 



THE GOOSANDER. 



species, yet not an adult bird amongst them of either 

 kind. Our early naturalists were much puzzled 

 about this tribe of birds, and described the adult, 

 the female, and the young male, as three distinct 

 species. In structure they are admirably formed 

 for fishing. Their prey, once caught, has as much 

 chance of escaping from the serrated beak as has a 

 roach from the mouth of a pike. As in the case of 

 the pike, the saw-like teeth on the edges of the 

 mandibles curve inwards. 



