472 GOOSANDER. 
as well as in North-western Africa; but it is uncommon in the 
Mediterranean, except in the Adriatic branch, which it reaches by 
crossing the Alps. It is tolerably plentiful in the Black Sea, and 
eastward it can be traced across Siberia to Kamchatka, its breeding- 
range reaching as far south as the elevated lakes of Central Asia, 
inclusive of those on the northern side of the Himalayas; while in 
the cold season the bird is found down to about lat. 22° N. in China. 
North America is inhabited by a closely-allied sub-species, the adult 
male of which shows a distinct black band about half-way across the 
wing-patch. 
Toward the end of April in Denmark and East Prussia, but 
somewhat later in Sweden, the Goosander lays its eggs in hollow 
trees, or avails itself of the nesting-boxes set up by the natives for 
various species of Ducks; while in Scotland a hole in the trunk 
of a tree (frequently an alder), a recess beneath gnarled roots, a 
hole in a peat-bog, or sometimes a sheltered ledge of rock, are the 
localities selected. The down is greyish-white; the eggs, 8-13 in 
number, are of a creamy- or buff-white, very different from the 
greenish-drab of those of the Red-breasted Merganser: measure- 
ments 2°6 by 1°8 in. ‘Booth remarked that until the young attained 
the age of a month or five weeks, the female usually kept them in 
the shallows, where there was less danger of their falling victims to 
their great enemy, the pike; he also noticed that although the 
young birds had no pinion-feathers, they appeared, on rising after a 
dive, to flap along the surface for a yard or two, striking the water 
with their feet. The note is described by Mr. Oswin Lee as a 
harsh kavrr. The food consists almost entirely of fish. 
The adult male has the greater part of the bill blood-red ; irides 
red ; head and upper neck glossy bottle-green ; lower neck and the 
entire under parts white, tinged with salmon-pink ; upper back and 
scapulars black ; wing-coverts chiefly white ; primaries and some of 
the secondaries ash-brown ; lower back and tail ash-grey ; legs and 
toes orange-red. Length 26 in.; wing 11 in. The female has the 
head—with its small crest—and the upper neck reddish-brown ; 
chin dull white ; upper parts chiefly ash-grey, with dark brown inner 
secondaries and quills, and a white wing-patch ; under parts buffish- 
white, mottled with ash-grey on the sides ; bill, legs and feet duller 
than in the male. Length 24 in.; wing 10 in. The young at first 
resemble the female, but a rudimentary dark collar soon makes its 
appearance in the drakes ; these do not attain their full plumage 
until the second year. 
