387 



BUFF-BREASTED MERGANSER, OR GOOSANDER. 



^Mergtjs merganser, Linn. 

 PLATE CCCCXI.— Male and Female. 



This species may be said to be a constant resident with us, as many 

 individuals breed in the interior of the states of New York, Massachusetts, 

 and Maine. When I first resided in Kentucky, some bred there also, 

 although at the present day none pass the summer in that country. In the 

 latter part of autumn, in winter, and in early spring, they are found in all 

 parts of the Union; in Texas I procured some in April, 1837, and in the 

 beginning of May saw a considerable flock in Galveston Bay. How much 

 farther southward their migrations extend I know not, but from having 

 observed them coming from that direction, I suspect that they advance pretty 

 far into the interior of Mexico, from which some perhaps cross to the 

 Arkansas river, on which I have also seen them. On the Mississippi, the 

 Ohio, and their tributaries, Goosanders are found during the coldest weather; 

 and when the larger streams are covered with ice, they betake themselves to 

 such smaller creeks as have very rapid currents or cascades, about which 

 they feed. But there are parts of our southern coast, where they are 

 exceedingly rare, such as South Carolina, where my friend Dr. Bachman 

 has never seen one, and the Floridas, in which none occurred to me during 

 my rambles there. Indeed one is surprised to find that among birds like 

 this, which is so hardy as to remain in our North-eastern States during the 

 severest part of the winter, some should extend their movements at the same 

 season as far to the south-west as Texas; but facts like these are beyond our 

 philosophy. In the lower parts of Louisiana, this species is called the 

 "Bec-scie-de-mer," probably because there it is found only on the large 

 salt-water lakes, and about the mouths of the Mississippi, and to distinguish 

 it from the Hooded Merganser, which there is more usually seen on fresh 

 water. I have been assured by Professor MacCulloch of Pictou that it 

 now and then breeds in Nova Scotia. Yet I found none in Labrador or 

 Newfoundland, where the Red-breasted species was breeding in great num- 

 bers. Dr. Richardson found it in abundance in the Fur Countries. 



The Goosander is a vigorous and robust bird. It swims deeply, but with 

 considerable speed, even against a strong current, running waters being 



