398 ANATH^E. 



the Ducks, on the banks, or among the reeds and rushes, 

 chooses to lay her eggs in the trunk of an old tree, in 

 which time, or the hand of man, has made such an excava- 

 tion as she can conveniently enter. The person that way- 

 lays the bird for her eggs, places against a fir or pine tree 

 somewhere near the bank of the river, a decayed trunk, 

 with a hole in its middle ; the bird enters and lays her 

 eggs in it : presently the peasant comes, and takes away 

 the eggs leaving, however, one or two. The bird 

 returns, and, finding but a single egg, lays two or three 

 more ; she is again robbed as before but a few are left at 

 last for the increase of her family. As soon as the eggs are 

 hatched, the mother takes the chicks gently in her bill, 

 carries and lays them down at the foot of the tree, where 

 she teaches them the way to the river, in which they 

 instantly swim with an astonishing facility." 



The Goosander is well-known in Russia, and frequents 

 the large 'inland waters of Germany; it is found also in 

 winter in Holland, France, Switzerland, Provence, Italy, 

 and Sicily. It has been observed in the vicinity of the 

 Caucasus, in North- West India, and Nepal. M. Temminck 

 says it is found in Japan. It is well known to the 

 naturalists of the United States ; and is found in North 

 America, Hudson's Bay, Greenland, and Iceland. 



In the adult male the bill is vermilion red, the superior 

 ridge of the upper mandible and the nail black ; the irides 

 red ; the head and upper part of the neck rich shining 

 green, with the occipital feathers elongated ; upper part of 

 the back and the scapulars black ; lower part of the back, 

 upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers ash-grey ; point of the 

 wing, and all the wing-coverts white ; wing-primaries 

 nearly black ; secondaries and tertials white ; lower part of 

 neck in front, and all the under surface of the body delicate 



