MERGANSERS. 



357 



FERRUGINOUS STIFF-TAILED DUCK. 



The Mergansers. 



resemble more a grebe than a duck. Southern Europe, North Africa, and parts of 



Asia are the home of the white-faced stiff-tailed duck (E. leucocephala\ distinguished 



by the breadth and size of the 



nail at the end of the beak. In 



other species, such as E. rub id a, 



of North, and the ferruginous 



stiff-tailed duck (E. ferruginea) 



of South America, as well as in 



the Australian E. australis, the 



nail is very small and narrow. 



The great musk-duck (Biziura 



lobata) of Australia constitutes 



a separate genus, characterised 



by the marked superiority in 



the size of the male over the 



female, and the presence of a 



large lobe of skin depending 



from the chin of the former sex. 



Here also may be mentioned 



the steamer-duck (Tacky eres cinereus) of the Falkland Islands and Patagonia. 



Under the general designation of mergansers may be included a 

 group of diving and fish-eating birds, which differ from the other 

 members of the family in the extreme narrowness of their beaks, although resem- 

 bling the diving-ducks in the structure of their feet. The beak, which may be either 

 longer or shorter than the head, is, in addition to its narrowness, straight and 

 slender, furnished on its edges with saw-like lamellae, and terminates in a con- 

 spicuous hooked nail ; the longitudinally elliptical nostrils being lateral and placed 

 near the middle of its length. The wings are of moderate length, with the first 

 and second quills the longest ; and the relatively short legs are placed somewhat 

 backwardly on the body. Of the five species of mergansers, four are inhabitants of 

 the northern portions of both hemispheres, migrating southwards in winter ; while 

 the fifth (Mergus australis) is from the Aucklands. All the four northern species 

 are met with in the British Islands, although two are but casual visitants, and only 

 one is a regular breeder. 



The goosander (M. merganser), which is a species occasionally breeding in 

 Britain, belongs to a group in which the beak is longer than the head, and has 

 long recurved serrations ; the metatarsus being rather long, and a depressed and 

 pointed crest present in both sexes. A handsomely coloured bird, the adult male 

 goosander in its breeding-plumage is characterised by its vermilion beak and the 

 shining greenish black head and upper neck, as well as by the lower neck and 

 under-parts being whitish, with a rosy tinge on the breast. The upper part of the 

 back and scapulars are black, as are the primaries ; the lower back, tail-coverts, 

 and tail-feathers are ashy grey ; and the point of the wing and wing-coverts are 

 white. In the female the head and upper neck are pale chestnut, and the upper 

 parts and wings, except the white secondaries, mainly grey. In length the male 

 varies from 25 to 28 inches. The goosander ranges over the northern portions of 



