black, with an apricot-yellow beak-patch, the female is a 

 dark brown, with grey cheeks. 



Though the duck tribe is represented by a considerable 

 number of species, the number likely to be seen by the casual 

 wanderer is very few ; for these birds mostly keep well under 

 cover during the day. In addition to the three species just 

 described there are at least two others which are not infre- 

 quently seen, out in the open, during the day. One of these 

 is the goosander, which, on the lochs and rivers of Scotland, is 

 common ; and it is also frequently encountered in similar 

 situations in the northern counties of England. You may 

 know him by his bottle-green head, which bears a crest, 

 black back, and white wings. His breast is suffused with a 

 wonderful pale salmon colour — which fades away within a 

 few hours of death, leaving the breast white. The beak is 

 long, pointed, and coral red. Moreover, its edges are armed 

 with homy teeth ; for he is a fish-eater, capturing his prey 

 by diving. On the wing he is very fast, but he rises from 

 the water but slowly. His mate has a reddish-brown head 

 and neck, and a grey back. The second species referred to 

 is the mallard, though it is only very occasionally, and by 

 accident, met with during the day. Its appearance has been 

 so well represented in the coloured Plate that there is no 

 need for description. 



When on the margins of lakes, large ponds, or slow-moving 



107 



