218 



GOOSANDER. 



structure of the Mergus merganser and M. castor, even in the intes- 

 tines as well as in the trachea, vertebrae of the neck, and number of 

 tail feathers, (which in both are eighteen,) as to warrant a conclusion 

 that they are the same, differing- only in age or sex. But this infor- 

 mation does not advance us one step towards clearing- up this long-con- 

 tested point. It has long- been known that males in the plumage of 

 Mergus castor, or dun-diver, have been proved by dissection ; and we 

 have before been told that they possessed a tracheal labyrinth similar 

 to that of Mergus merganser, or Goosander ; but we should have 

 been glad to have been informed whether in the trachea itself there 

 had been one or two enlargements ; for otherwise we gain no additional 

 knowledge. 



We have before remarked, that later observations have proved that 

 at least some birds in the habit of the dun-diver have but one tracheal 

 enlargement, besides the labyrinth ; whereas the Goosander has two, 

 both of which are figured in the Berlin Transactions. To this may be 

 added the remarks of an excellent ornithologist of the day, and a 

 critical observer, Willughby, who, speaking of the Goosander, says, 

 " It hath a huge bony labyrinth on the windpipe, above the divarica- 

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

 another, each resembling a powder puff." 



This species appears to be common on the Tornea, in Finland, during 

 the breeding season, and their eggs are much coveted by the natives, 

 who place decayed trees that are hollow near the banks of the river, 

 which these birds enter, and there deposit their eggs, to the number of 

 twenty ; these the Finlanders take out, from time to time, but always 

 leave two or three at least, in order to continue the breed. 



* The young and female have been described by several British natu- 

 ralists as a distinct species, under the name of the dun-diver ; the 

 inquiries of the late Mr. Simmonds, supported by the testimony of Dr. 

 Fleming, identify it in structure, numbers, and dimensions of the trachea, 

 with the male Goosander. Montagu thus describes his dun-diver. 



Bill near three inches long, narrow, of a dull purplish red ; the upper 

 mandible hooked at the end ; nail black ; the edges finely serrated ; 

 irides purplish ; the upper part of the head ferruginous brown ; the rest 

 of the head and upper part of the neck bright ferruginous ; the feathers 

 on the nape much elongated ; chin and throat white ; the lower part of 

 the neck before, and sides of the breast, ash-colour and white mixed; 

 the lower part of the neck behind, the back, wing coverts, scapulars, 

 and tail, fine ash-colour ; greater quills black ; six of the secondaries 

 are white at their ends ; the greater coverts immediately impending 



