240 MERGUS MERGANSER. 



the whole of my examinations and distortions of the 

 present species, I have never jvet found the female in 

 his dress. What I consider as undoubtedly the true 

 female of this species is described at page 243. They were 

 both shot in the month of April, in the same creek, 

 unaccompanied by any other ; and, on examination, the 

 sexual parts of each were strongly and prominently 

 marked. The windpipe of the female had nothing 

 remarkable in it; that of the male had two very large 

 expansions, which have been briefly described by 

 Willoughby, who says : " It hath a large bony labyrinth 

 on the windpipe, just above the divarications; and the 

 windpipe hath, besides, two swellings out, one above 

 another, each resembling a powder puff." These laby- 

 rinths are the distinguishing characters of the males ; 

 and are always found, even in young males who have 

 not yet thrown off the plumage of the female, as well 

 as in the old ones. If we admit these dun divers to be 

 a distinct species, we can find no difference between 

 their pretended females and those of the goosander, 

 only one kind of female of this sort being known ; and 

 this is contrary to the usual analogy of the other three 

 species, viz. the red-breasted merganser, the hooded, and 

 the smew, all of whose females are well known, and bear 

 the same comparative resemblance in colour to their 

 respective males, the length of crest excepted, as the 

 female goosander we are about to describe bears to him. 



Having thought thus much necessary on this disputed 

 point, I leave each to form his own opinion on the facts 

 and reasoning produced. 



[*The goosander is a broad, long-bodied, and flat- 

 backed bird. It is a great diver, and remains under 

 water for a considerable time. It is very shy, and hard 

 to be obtained, unless there is ice in the river, at which 

 time it may be approached by stratagem, the shooter 

 and his boat being clothed in white, so as to resemble 



* From this to the end of the article, marked off with brackets, 

 is an addition to Wilson's description by Mr Ord. The articles, 

 Gray Phalarope (p. 132,) and Laughing Gull (p. 161,) are also 

 Mr Ord's. 



