486 GOOSANDER. 



bony labyrinth on the windpipe, just above the divarications ; 

 and the windpipe hath, besides, two swellings out, one above 

 another, each resembling a powder puff." These labyrinths 

 are the distinguishing characters of the males ; and are always 

 found, even in young males who have not yet thrown off the 

 plumage of the female, as well as in the old ones. If we 

 admit these dun divers to be a distinct species, we can find 

 no difference between their pretended females and those of 

 the goosander, only one kind of female of this sort being 

 known ; and this is contrary to the usual analogy of the other 

 three species, viz., the red-breasted merganser, the hooded, and 

 the smew, all of whose females are well known, and bear the 

 same comparative resemblance in colour to their respective 

 males, the length of crest excepted, as the female goosander 

 here figured bears to him. 



Having thought thus much necessary on this disputed point, 

 I leave each to form his own opinion on the facts and reason- 

 ing produced. 



* The goosander is a broad, long-bodied, and flat-backed 

 bird. It is a great diver, and remains under water for a con- 

 siderable time. It is very shy, and hard to be obtained, unless 

 there is ice in the river, at which time it may be approached 

 by stratagem, the shooter and his boat being clothed in white, 

 so as to resemble floating ice. It appears to live chiefly upon 

 fish, which its sharp-toothed and hooked bill is admirably cal- 

 culated for securing. It rises from the water with considerable 

 fluttering, its wings being small and short ; but when in the 

 air, it flies with great swiftness. It is a singular circumstance 

 that those goosanders which are seen in the Delaware and 

 Schuylkill, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, are principally old 

 males. 



The male goosander is twenty-six inches in length, and 

 thirty-seven inches in breadth ; the bill, to the angles of the 

 mouth, is three inches long, nearly an inch thick at the base, 



* From this to the end of the article, marked off with brackets, is an 

 addition to Wilson's description by Mr Ord. — Ed. 



