﻿180 ANATID.E. 



The flight of the Red-breasted Merganser is more buoyant 

 and swift than that of the foregoing species, in consequence of 

 its more slender form. This bird is by nature very shy, and 

 avoids the presence of man as much as possible. Where 

 space will allow it, the bird evades danger by swimming and 

 diving, but otherwise it takes wing and mounts high in 

 the air ; as soon as danger is past, it frequently returns to 

 the same spot, and thus enables a sportsman to hide himself 

 and wait for its return. 



Sociable among its own species, it is more generally seen 

 in small or large flocks than singly : when a flock becomes 

 scattered, the separated individuals are almost sure to take 

 the first opportunity to reunite. 



The call-note sounds most like the word curr, currr ! and 

 is chiefly and frequently uttered when the bird is taking wing, 

 or in the act of flying. 



The food on which the Red-breasted Merganser subsists 

 is small fish, water-beetles, the larvse of insects, worms, and 

 sometimes frogs, that are obtained during the winter season 

 from springy and boggy places. The small fishes which 

 the present species pursues have little chance of escape, 

 as the whole flock of birds present dive simultaneously, and 

 pursue them towards the shore under water ; the fish have no 

 alternative but to run on the shallows, and there their 

 pursuers make short work of them, and satisfy their greedy 

 appetites. 



The further north the country, the more frequent 

 become the breeding-places of the Red-breasted Merganser. 

 .The spots chosen by this bird are the immediate vicinity 

 of the sea, about the green, soft, flat mouths of rivers, bays 

 and lakes, connected with rapid rivers, where rushes and reeds 

 give it shelter. 



On the large pieces of water that occur in Iceland, many 



