i6 



ELEMENTS OP OElflTHOLOGY. 



through their narrow bills margined with tooth-like processes. ] 

 They are noted as great destroyers of fish. Of them, the _ 

 G-oosander (Mergus merganser) may be taken as a type — a bird 

 dear to the Scandinavian peasant. Mr. Seebohm tells * us that, 

 as the House-martin has found a better shelter for its nest under . 

 the eaves of a roof than in a cliff, so the Groosander immediately | 

 avails itself of the wooden boxes which the Eins fasten up in 

 the trees to tempt them. These are made with a trap-door '; 



Fig. 13. 



The Groosander {Mergua merganser). 



behind " so that the peasant may daily rob the nest, and thus 

 make the too-conflding bird lay a score or more of eggs before J 

 the wary man thinks it prudent to cease his depredations, and ■ 

 allow the Goosander to sit upon the nest for fear of spoiling 

 the next year's harvest." 



In a half-domesticated state, on the surface or margins of our 

 ponds, by homely farmsteads or in pleasure-grounds, we often | 

 find those small familiar Water-Birds known as " Moor-benB'' 



* British Birds, vol. ili. p. 626. 



