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THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 
Mercfus serrator. 
PLATE X. 
Mergus serrator, Linn . — Le Harle Huppe, Temm. — Red- 
breasted Merganser of British authors. 
This species is a winter visitant to the shores oi 
England and south of Scotland, and appears at that 
season more maritime in its habits than the last ; in 
the south of Scotland it does not ascend rivers regu- 
larly liko the last, nor is it nearly so common in 
winter, and the specimens which we have procured 
have been generally from the sea or its vicinity ; its 
breeding range is however more extended, for it in- 
cubates by the margins or on the islands of most 
of the more retired Highland lochs, and towards the 
north is by no means uncommon. The nest we 
have generally found placed among brush-wood, a 
few yards from the water, with a beaten run to it ; 
it is warmly constructed with the down of the bird. 
When the female commences sitting, she is left by 
the drake, which retires and completes its moult, 
after having assumed a somewhat duck-like appear- 
ance. 
On the authority of Mr. Thompson, it is also 
