THE GOOSANDER 2oi 



THE SURF SCOTER 



CEDEMIA PERSPICILLATA 



A bony protuberance on each side of the bill near the base ; no speculum ; 

 general plumage black ; on the forehead and nape a patch of white ; 

 bill yellow, with a square black spot on each side near the base ; irides 

 white ; feet red, the membranes black. In the female the black is 

 replaced by dark ash-brown, and the white by light grey ; bill dark 

 olive ; feet brown, with black membranes. Length twenty inches. Eggs 

 white. 



Only a few specimens of this bird liave been obtained in Europe, 

 and these probably had been driven eastward by storms from North 

 America, where alone they are found in any numbers. In habits 

 and food the Surf Scoter resembles the common species, deriving 

 its name from the pertinacity with which it selects, as its feeding- 

 ground, a sandy beach over which surf rolls. It rarely or never 

 visits the salt marshes. 



THE GOOSANDER 



MERGUS MERGANSER 



Head and crest greenish black ; back black ; speculum (not barred with 

 black), under parts, wing-coverts, outer scapulars, and some of the quills, 

 buff ; bill red, the ridge and nail black ; feet vermilion. Length twenty- 

 four to twenty-eight inches. Female and young — head and crest reddish 

 brown ; breast and flanks pale bufif ; upper plumage dark ash ; bill and 

 feet dull red. Eggs dull white. 



The Goosander is a regular winter visitor to the shores of Great 

 Britain and Ireland, frequenting bays and estuaries, but preferring 

 fresh-water rivers and lakes, where it makes great havoc among 

 trout and other fish. It is far more abundant in the north than 

 in the south, and, according to MacgiUivray, is sometimes seen even 

 in summer in the Scotch lochs. It has been known to breed in 

 the outer Hebrides, and of late years in several parts of the High- 

 lands, but the general summer residence of this species is much 

 farther to the north, both in the eastern and western hemispheres. 

 The habits of the Goosander and Merganser are so much alike that 

 further detail is unnecessary. 



The females and young birds of the Goosander and Merganser 

 are popularly called Dun-divers. 



