THE



319



Avicultural Magazine,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCIETY.



Third Series .— Vol. V.—No. 11. —All rights reserved. SEPTEMBER, 1914.



THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.


Mergus serrator.


By Hubert D. Astley.


The length of this duck is twenty-four inches. The male in

full dress is very handsome, with his double crest, head and upper

part of neck black, glossed with green ; against which the bright

crimson beak and eyes (the legs being of the same colour) make a

conspicuous contrast. The middle of the neck is white, and the

base of the fore-neck, buff with dusky striations. The patch of

white feathers, margined with black at the sides of the fore-neck at

once attract the eye. Back, black; wing coverts white with two

narrow black bars. The flanks grey, with narrow pencillings of

black and white.


The female’s head and neck is dull brownish red, and is

altogether paler, lacking the distinctive markings of her mate.

There is an eclipse plumage after the breeding season.


During the latter period the Bed-breasted Mergansers are

found along the coasts and rivers of Scotland in many parts, and it

is common on the Orkneys and also breeds in the Shetlands, as well

as the Inner and Outer Hebrides. It does not breed in England,

but it occurs in Ireland, in Ulster, Connaught, and Munster. Beyond

the British Isles it nests in Iceland and Southern Norway, in Sweden,

Finland, Bussia and North Germany, and also in Denmark. In

America too, Labrador, Greenland, etc.


To England, it is a winter visitor; a bird of passage in the

autumn and the spring. As a rule the nest is placed on the ground



