306 VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



GOOSANDER 



Mergus merganser, L. 



The Goosander has long been known as a winter visitant to 



the rivers and lakes of estuaries. Nor is it improbable that at 



one time a single pair of these birds may have elected to nest 



in the neighbourhood of Windermere, which has always been a 



favourite resort of this species during the colder months of the 



year. AVhat gives colour to this suggestion is a statement of 



Nicolson and Burn regarding Windermere, based apparently on 



information supplied by the papers of Sir Daniel Fleming: 



' Waterfoivl in great plenty resort to this lake, especially in 



winter, such as Wild Swans, Wild Geese, Duck, Mallard, Teal, 



Widgeons, Didappers, Gravyes (which are larger than Ducks, and 



build in hollow trees), and many others.' x An explanation of 



the difficulty created by this passage is afforded, if we remember 



that the Goosander is still called the ' Gravel-duck ' on the shores 



of the English Solway. I believe that the name refers to the fact 



that this species often rests on scars of gravel in the bed of the 



estuary when the tide is out. It may include some further 



reference to the species obtaining trout in well-shingled pools 



in preference to a muddy bottom. At all events the Goosander 



is often called a ' Gravel -duck ' at the present time, and I 



believe that the term was formerly of less restricted usage than 



is now the case, since old English names naturally tend to 



become more and more local, until they eventually become 



obsolete. The accounts of Lord William Howard supply several 



references bearing directly upon the point at issue. Between 



November 7th and 13th, 1612, we find entered : ' For Thorne- 



tliwate the same week. Bobinson for fish, viij s , vi d , iiij seapies 



viij d , ij gravens viii d .' Between October 25th and 31st, 1617, 



we read, ' 2 gray hens, a grevell, and a teale, xiiij d .' In 1622, 



we have an entry between January 6th and 1 2th, ' 5 mallerds 



and gravelins, xx d .' Lastly, we read in 1623, between January 



17th and 25th, 'A gravell and a woodcock, vij d .' Thus we 



have four renderings of the spelling, viz., ' gravens ' [plural], 



a ' grevell/ ' gravelins ' [plural], and a ' gravell,' all varying 



1 History and Antiquities of Westmorland and Cumberland, vol. i. p. 185. 



