BIRDS. 



253 



was, I think, dark brown, like velvet. The feathers of the crest were 

 not long. I found the nest in the hollow of an old tree. The date 

 was about the 20th May. I found the nest on the side of Loch 

 Ericht. Whenever (the bird) flew off the nest, it dived into the 

 water, and I never could see it more." 



A copy of the above extract was now forwarded to Captain 

 H. W. Feilden, and by him to Mr. H. E. Dresser. 



Under date of 3rd September 1871, Mr. Dresser wrote : "I have 

 your letter and the eggs. . . . They are awfully Goosander-like." 

 He then goes on to say that he cannot identify them from the 

 young down," as " without all the young it cannot be done." Then in 

 a P.S., referring to John Macgregor's letter just received, — " which I 

 think tends to show that the eggs are Goosanders' ; the more so that, 

 in my experience, I always found the Goosanders to breed in trees, 

 and never on the ground. I will hunt up all information on this 

 point, as I think it will be one step further towards making them out." 



J. A. H.-B. then wrote again to John Macgregor asking him to try 

 hard for the down yet ; even a single spray, by careful search, might 

 be found in the nest-hole. 



Mr. Dresser then wrote, under date of 9th September 1871 : "I 

 believe the eggs are Goosanders', but I want to prove it." 



At length comes a letter from Mrs. Macgregor, dated 11th 

 September 1871, enclosing down from the nest-hole and a single 

 feather in every way answering to a feather from the flank of a 

 female Goosander in our collection. She says: "My husband is 

 very busy, and he wants me to write. He went nine miles the other 

 day to the nest, and what is in the enclosed envelope is all the down 

 of the bird he could get. There was none in the nest, but it was all 

 fallen down in the hollow of the tree. He got it out at the bottom 

 of the tree." 



The feather and down were sent to Mr. Dresser, who confirmed 

 my comparison, and in answer said : "I congratulate you on the 

 first recorded nest of M. merganser" (i.e. from Scotland, J. A. H.-B.). 

 He also enclosed the feather I had sent him, and others, for comparison, 

 showing at once the identity of the eggs. 



I have inserted the page in the egg-book just as Mr. Dresser sent 

 it to me (q.v. p. 198). 



In connection with this discovery, Mr. R. Gray wrote to me, 

 under date of 30th August 1871 : "I have seen adult Goosanders 

 killed at Loch Dhu (or Dhuloch ?) in Perthshire, as late as the begin- 

 ning of May, and it would not surprise me to hear of the species 



