218 
GOOSANDER. 
structure of the Mergus merganser and M, castor, even in the intes- 
tines as well as in the trachea, vertehrce 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 
