(iOOSANDEK. 
3 
ascertain *. By tlivinsj and swimmin" they succeeded in working their way against the current at a most 
surprising pace ; so rapid were their movements in ducking below the surface, that though well within range 
and keeping in a compact body, I was unable to catcb a glimpse of more than two or three of their number at 
the same moment. Under such circumstances the result of the shot proved far more satisfactory than uas 
anticipated, five young birds and the old female being stopped by the two barrels. The survivors at once 
turned, and fluttering and diving, as well as aided by the current, passed rapidly down the river, in spite of all 
efforts of the keeper and dog to turn them f. Some time was spent in securing the dead and wounded ; and 
when at last we followed the course taken by the remainder of the brood, our search, which was continued 
for a couple of miles, proved a failure, with the exception that another disabled bird was discovered by the dog. 
The plumage of the female exhibited little difference to that of specimens obtained in winter ; the 
crest on the head was, however, scarcely so long and thick. The young birds showed a thin covering 
of feathers on the crown and fore part of the head, the back of the head and neck being still covered with 
long reddish down. The throat was a mixture of white down and fine pin-feathers ; back long brown down. 
Feathers of a slate-grey had expanded on the wing-coverts. The white of the bar on the wings had made its 
appearance, though but very slight signs of the pinion-feathers could be detected. The feathers of the tail had 
sprouted to a considerable length, the breast and belly also being thickly feathered and of almost the same 
rich salmon tint as in the adult male. The upper mandible brown along top ridge, the lower portion, including 
the saw, being of a flesh tint, the lower mandible of a deep red flesh. Iris dusky yellow, with darker outside 
circle. Legs a dusky brown tint, darker at the knee-joint ; toes pale orange ; webs dusky brown. 
This brood, which appeared to be the only one in the immediate neighbourhood, had been watched for 
about seven weeks, and during that time had moved down the course of the river for nearly ten miles. These 
birds seemed, from some unknown cause, exceedingly scarce this season, in former years three or four broods 
having been usually observed on the same stretch of water. 
Thoughout the districts in which I met with Goosanders during the breeding-season, the females appeared 
in some instances to resort to situations for nesting-purposes at a considerable elevation on the hills. A cavity 
in a large and partially decayed birch was pointed out by a keeper as the spot from which some eggs (previously 
seen in his possession) had been taken. The old and weather-beaten stump was on the outskirts of a thicket of 
birch, fir, and alder stretching from a swamp up a steep brae, and within a mile of a loch on which I have 
repeatedly watched two or three broods. The tree was carefully examined, and I noticed that down from 
the breast of the bird was still clinging to the rotten wood ; the general appearance also of the rubbish in the 
hollow left little doubt as to the truth of the statement. On more than one occasion I have been informed by 
keepers and gillies well acquainted with this species that they had met with broods on the bare and open moors 
following the course of some of the larger burns. Whether these had been hatched among the rocks and 
stones in the rugged gullies near at hand, or still higher on the mountain-side where dense patches of fir 
clothed the slopes in the more sheltered corries, it was impossible to form an opinion. 
Goosanders are blessed with a strong healthy appetite, their visits at times proving exceedingly distasteful 
to the custodians of lakes and rivers. When wounded or alarmed, I have occasionally remarked that an immense 
quantity of fish was thrown up. After a shot with a punt-gun, some winters back, on Heigham Sounds in the 
east of Norfolk, at a number of these birds sitting with other fowl at the edge of a wake on the ice, scores of 
small rudd and roach were discovered lying on the surface where the flock had been resting. On the upper 
waters of the Lyon, in Perthshire, while concealed among the alders on the bank of the river, I watched, at the 
• I never heard any sound uttered by the female and brood unless disturbed and driven, or when moving off of their own accord. The note 
is a low plaintive whistle, not unlike the cry of some young Hawks. 
t Though these young birds had not a pinion-feather on their wing-joints, they appeared on rising after a dive to spring upwards and flap 
along the surface for at least a yard or two, striking up the water at the same time with their feet. 
