ANATIDJE. 241 



THE SMEW, OR WHITE NUN. Mergus albellm. This 

 is one of our rare winter visitors, more frequently met with 

 in the south than in the north of Britain, in which last 

 part of our island it is seen only as an occasional straggler. 

 In Central and Northern Europe it occurs, and in North 

 America ; on the last continent, however, but rarely, since 

 Audubon was obliged to have recourse to a British specimen 

 for his drawing of the male bird. With regard to its nidifi- 

 cation, the nest of the Smew is reported to be made of dry 

 grass and lined with the down of the bird itself. It is 

 placed on the ground, upon the banks of lakes and rivers, 

 not far from the water, or in a hollow in a tree. The eggs 

 are said to be of a yellowish- white colour. 



THE GOOSANDER. Mergus merganser. On the mainland 

 of Great Britain at least, thia bird can only be considered 

 a winter visitor, and much less numerously so towards the 

 South. In the Orkney and Shetland Islands we do not at 

 all think that it remains to breed, although it may do so in 

 the Western Islands of Scotland ; but, generally speaking, 

 more northern regions are its summer resort, and in Norway 

 Mr. Hewitson saw the birds during the breeding season ; 

 while in Iceland, Mr. Proctor, of Durham, procured the 

 eggs. The nests of this species have been found in fresh- 



R 



