in Great Britain during the Nesting-season. 447 



cast a doubt on the accuracy of the information ; and as it came 

 from respectable and disinterested persons^ that gentleman 

 believed it. I am^ however, not aware of any corroboration of 

 the statement, and the breeding of the Long-tailed Duck in 

 Shetland is probably a rare occurrence. 



Clangula glaucion. Mr. W. Dunbar informs me that the 

 Golden-eye has been once known to breed in Sutherland, a 

 nest with the young birds having been found by a shepherd in 

 the hollow of an old larch-tree on Loch Assynt ; and Mr. Dun- 

 bar suggests that one of the parents must have been disabled 

 and unable to migrate. 



Mergus serrator {Linn.). Red-breasted Merganser, 



Provinces XVI. XVII. XVIII. 



Subprovinces 32-38. 



Lat. 55°-6l°. " Scottish '' type, or Northern. 



In several localities on the west coast of Scotland, extending 

 from Islay to Shetland ; but I have no authority for its breeding 

 on the east side of Scotland, though Macgillivray tells us that 

 it is found in summer as far south as the Moray Firth. 



Mergus castor {Linn.). Goosander. 



Province XVIII. 

 Subprovince 36. 

 Lat. 57°-58° or 59°. " Scottish " type. Not in Ireland. 



Mr. John Macgillivray appears to have been the first to dis- 

 cover the nest of the Goosander in the Outer Hebrides, where 

 he describes it as breeding by the larger lakes, and occasionally 

 by the sea. 



Mr. Robert Gray tells me that he has no doubt about the 

 Goosander ; for his friend Dr. Dewar has killed the female on 

 the nest, and taken the contents of several nests, in North 

 Uist. Mr. Gray has also himself obtained eggs from the same 

 locality. 



The " Goosander,^' mentioned by Low as breeding in the Loch 

 of Stenness, is no doubt the Red-breasted Merganser, one speciejs 

 only of Mergus being included in the ' Fauna Orcadensis.^ 



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