AMERICAN MERGANSER. 



r/NOWN by its various names of Goosander, Buff- 

 breasted Sheldrake, Bufif-breasted Merganser, 

 Swamp Sheldrake, Weaser, Fish Duck, American Mer- 

 ganser, Scie de Mer and Sea Sawbill in Louisiana, and 

 many others in various parts of the land, the present 

 species is distributed throughout the whole of North 

 America, breeding in the West as far south as Northern 

 Colorado, and occasionally going to Alaska and certain 

 of the Aleutian Islands. It has also visited the Ber- 

 mudas. In Alaska it is only known to have occurred a 

 few times within the Territory, but it appears to be an 

 accidental visitor at Unalaska Island. 



This Merganser is the largest, and in my opinion the 

 handsomest of the Saw-bill Ducks, so-called from the 

 curiously lengthened bill lined on the edges with 

 serrations like the teeth of a saw. The American Mer- 

 ganser resembles almost precisely the European species, 

 and it is very doubtful if anything is gained scientifically 

 or otherwise, by the attempt to separate them; the dif- 

 ference being that the European bird has an exposed, the 

 American, a concealed, black bar across the wings. The 

 Goosander breeds in the hollows of trees, except in far 

 northern districts such as certain portions of the Arctic 

 regions where trees sufficiently large are scarce, and 

 there it makes its nest upon the ground. Generally a 

 large tree is selected upon the borders of some inclosed 

 lake among the mountains, or on the bank of a river in 

 a lonely, retired situation, and in a hollow, perhaps 



