ANATIDA. 471 
THE GOOSANDER. 
MERGUS MERGANSER, Linneus. 
In England this species, the largest of the British ‘Saw-bills,’ is 
known as a visitor to estuaries and fresh-water lakes during the cold 
season, and sometimes remains in Norfolk until May. In the east 
it is more plentiful than the Red-breasted Merganser, but in the 
south, and on the waters of Wales, it is of somewhat irregular 
occurrence. In Scotland, besides occurring in winter, it has for 
some years been known to nest in Sutherland and down to the Great 
Glen, as well as in Strathspey and elsewhere in the Highlands; but 
in the Shetlands, Orkneys and Outer Hebrides it is rare at any 
season. To Ireland it is only an irregular visitor, though sometimes 
seen on inland waters in small flocks during severe frosts. 
Though not yet recorded from Greenland, and seldom seen in 
the Fzroes, the Goosander breeds and is said to be resident in 
Iceland. It is common throughout the summer in Scandinavia, 
Finland, and Northern Russia as far south as the Ural and Central 
Volga districts ; it nests sparingly in hollow trees where the forests 
come down to the water in Denmark, as well as in the north- 
eastern provinces of Germany ; and it also breeds in Switzerland on 
the lakes of Bienne, Neuchatel, Morat and Constance. In winter it 
occurs on the waters of the Continent as far as the south of Spain, 
