258 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



British specimens of such birds are not easy to 

 get. 



THE BUFF-BREASTED GOOSANDER. 



(Mergus merganser^ 



Male. — The bill vermilion ; the nail black ; iris 

 bright red. The head and upper half of the neck 

 black, with green and purple reflections. Lower 

 part of neck white behind ; its front part, and the 

 whole lower surface and side of the body, a delicate 

 reddish-buff or light salmon colour. The fore-part 

 of the back and inner scapulars black ; the hind- 

 part ash grey, waved on the sides of the rump ; 

 the tail ash grey, with black shafts. The outer 

 scapulars are white, hiding a band of black, margin- 

 ing the wing and crossing its base. Wing coverts 

 white ; outer secondaries black at the base, forming 

 a bar across part of the wing ; quills blackish- 

 brown, tinged with grey on the inner webs ; legs 

 and feet vermilion. Length, from bill to tail, 

 twenty-six inches. 



Female. — Has a longer and more slender crest 

 than the male. Head and upper neck light reddish- 

 brown ; upper parts deep ash-grey. The throat 

 whitish ; lower neck pale grey, the feathers edged 

 with white ; breast and belly white ; the sides 

 grey. Some of the secondary quills and their 

 coverts white. The bill and feet duller than in the 

 male. Length, from bill to tail, twenty-four inches. 



Young birds, similar in colouring to the female. 



