GOOSANDER 



255 



Goosander. 



Mergus merganser. 



FIG. 86. GOOSANDER. ^ natural size. 



Bill and irides blood-red ; head and upper neck glossy dark 

 green ; lower neck and under parts white tinged with salmon-pink ; 

 upper back and scapulars black ; wing-coverts white ; primaries 

 and some of the secondaries ash-brown ; lower back and tail ash- 

 grey ; legs and feet orange-red. Length, twenty-six inches. The 

 female is less conspicuously coloured, and has a reddish brown head 

 and neck. 



The mergansers are sea-ducks of slimmer and more elegant 

 forms than the species already described, and differ from scaups, 

 eiders, and scoters as terns differ from gulls. They have grebe -like 

 necks and long, slender, serrated bills, and a variegated plumage 

 with strongly contrasted colours. 



The goosander is the largest of the three British species, and is 

 not uncommon in winter on some parts of the coast, and is abundant 

 in the west districts of Scotland. Its visits to the coasts of England 

 and Ireland occur chiefly in severe seasons. It is also a breeder 

 in the Highlands of Scotland. In its summer haunts in Scandi- 



