376 NATATORES. MERGUS. GOOSANDER 



and even more southern countries ; and WILSON mentions it 

 as a well known winter visitant upon the coasts, lakes, and 

 rivers of the United States. During the summer the great 

 body of these birds retires to high latitudes, for the purpose 

 of reproduction ; and at that time they are found in Iceland, 

 Greenland, and other northern parts of Europe. In Asia, 

 they visit Siberia, Kamtschatka, &c., and in America, during 

 the above period, they are distributed through the fur coun- 

 Nest, &c. tries of that vast continent. The nest is constructed (near 

 to the edge of the water) of a mass of grass, roots, and other 

 materials, mixed and lined with down. It is placed some- 

 times among stones or other debris, and sometimes in the 

 long grass, or under the cover of bushes, and (when the lo- 

 cality affords them) in the stumps or hollows of decayed 

 trees. The eggs are from twelve to fourteen in number, of 

 a cream-yellow colour ; and their form is a long oval, both 

 ends being equally obtuse. 



The Goosander, except when on wing, is almost always 

 seen upon the water, being unable to make any great pro- 

 gress on land, in consequence of the backward position of the 

 legs, and the slight degree of freedom that the tibiae possess 

 from their situation within the integuments of the abdomen. 

 Its activity, however, in the former element, makes ample 

 amends for this deficiency. In swimming, the body, from 

 its broad and flattened shape, is deeply sunk in the water, 

 having the head, neck, and back only visible. It is an ex- 

 cellent diver, with the power of remaining for a long time 

 submerged, and making its way with great rapidity beneath 

 Food, the surface. In this manner its food is obtained, consisting 

 entirely of fish ; and which, when once seized, are securely 

 held in its serrated bill. It rises with difficulty, or at least 

 with much apparent exertion, from the surface of the water, 

 but when once fairly on wing, its flight is not only swift, 

 but can be sustained for a considerable time. By earlier 

 writers, the females and young males (which resemble that 

 sex for upwards of a year) were considered and described as 



