224 THE BIRDS OF SHERWOOD FOREST. 



of October, and generally leaving in March ; but I have 

 known them prolong their stay until April once, in- 

 deed, in 1854, I noted a flock of eighteen on Thoresby 

 Lake so late as May 1. 



The plumage of both the male and female goosander 

 is very handsome, though so different that it is no 

 wonder that for a long time, as in the similar case of the 

 hen-harrier and ringtail, they were classed as distinct 

 species, the female being known as the dun diver, and 

 receiving the specific name of castor. This confusion 

 of the sexes has, however, long since been cleared up by 

 dissection, the anatomical peculiarities of the trachea 

 being alike in both. I have myself frequently noticed 

 amorous passages to take place between the goosander 

 and the dun diver whilst on the water. 



The contrast in the plumage of the male, between the 

 black of the head and back and the rosy cream- colour 

 of the neck and breast, is exceedingly striking, and 

 though less obtrusive, the reddish-brown of the head and 

 neck of the female, with the bluish-grey of the back, 

 offers almost as pleasing a distinction. 



The plumage of the young males is so exactly the 

 same as that of the female, that until after their first 

 moult it is impossible to distinguish them ; yet they do 

 not assume the full adult livery at once, as I have seen 

 several in which the dark feathers of the head were in- 

 terspersed with brown ones, the lower part of the neck 

 and the breast being also mottled with ash colour. The 

 pendant crest of both males and females adds greatly to 

 their beauty; that of the former is looser in texture, 

 and hangs more gracefully than that of the female, which, 

 though of equal length, is narrower, and thicker at the 

 upper part. 



