MERGUS CASTOR, 
Goosander. 
Mergus merganser, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 47. 
castor, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 209. 
ruhricapillus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 545. 
Merganser Rail, Leach, Syst. Cat. of Indig. Mamm. and Birds in Brit. Mus,, p. 36. 
gulo, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 161, pi. 53. 
castor, Bonap. Geog. and Comp. List, of Birds of Eur. and N. Amer., p. 59. 
The Goosander is the largest and the finest species of Mergus known. The plumage of the male in his 
nuptial dress is remarkably striking, the rich green of the head, the delicate salmon tint of the breast and 
abdomen, and the jet-black of the back being all most harmoniously arranged ; and in this state few water- 
birds are more beautifully attired. The members of the genus to which it belongs dwell entirely on the 
waters, and, like the Cormorants, live almost exclusively on fish: the Mergansers, however, are more 
lacustrine in their habits ; for they do not go far out to sea, or fish so frequently in great estuaries and 
bays, but prefer the inland lochs and great lakes of the countries they respectively inhabit. With few 
exceptions, all the species are found in the northern hemisphere, in the Old and the New World, and conse- 
quently are natives of high latitudes. The above somewhat general remarks apply to the four species which 
frequent our w'aters, and not to the one inhabiting Brazil, or to the two frequenting the streams of the 
Andean ranges ; for although they undoubtedly belong to the same family, they pertain to very dlstit)ct 
genera. In summer the Goosander is to be found in the northern portions of Europe, where, and in other 
countries in similar high latitudes, it breeds. The greater part of those which come to us in autumn are 
doubtless from Iceland, Norway, and Lapland. I am aware that Macgillivray, Dr. Dewar, and others have 
stated that the bird breeds in the Outer Hebrides and other parts of Scotland ; but I trust I shall be excused 
if I doubt this, and suggest that the Red-breasted Merganser may have been mistaken for it. It is in 
November that those who live in the Midland counties of England look for the arrival of the Goosander ; 
and so truly does it keep the time of coming that it seldom varies more than a few days. The late Duke 
of Newcastle informed me that the small number which pass the winter on his fine lake at Clumber, in 
Nottinghamshire, generally arrive within a few days of the 15th of November, and remain until the 
following spring, w’hen they suddenly leave for their breeding-grounds in the north. The quantity of fish 
that the ten or twelve Goosanders which resort to Clumber lake destroy during their five months’ sojourn 
must be enormous ; for a twenty-pound pike does not, in my opinion, take a larger weight of fish per diem 
than one of these voracious birds. The Duke very kindly invited me to Clumber, and assigned me a bed- 
room the windows of which opened towards the lake, that I might see how regularly the Goosanders fished 
the upper and shallow part of the stream at sunrise. As if acting in concert, the troop kept nearly in 
line, and traversed the lake from end to end ; the morning meal over, and their appetites appeased, they 
resorted to the low and deeper water, and there remained until evening, when they again resumed their 
fishing. In a trout-stream, I know of no bird that would be more destructive ; for the alacrity it displayed 
in diving clearly convinced me that no fish could escape. 
The employment of the word “ nuptial” at the commencement of this j)aper, with reference to the plumage 
of the Goosander, will have indicated that this fine species Is subject to a change of costume ; and no meta- 
morphosis could effect a greater difference in appearance than is exhibited by the male before and after the 
breeding-time. As soon as the nesting-period is over, he gradually throws off his beautiful silky green head- 
dress, the black colouring of his back, and the buffy colouring of his breast, for a plumage so similar to 
that of the female that, were it not for his superior size, at a short distance the two sexes could not be 
distinguished from each other. The young of both sexes are alike in colour, and very similar to the old 
female, until at least the second year. 
The site chosen for the incubation of its eggs is a hole in a tree, under a great stone, the lee side of a 
hush, or among the herbage by a lake-side. The late Mr. Wheelwright, in his ‘Spring and Summer 
in Lapland,’ tells us that the only two sets of eggs found by bim were both placed on the bare ground. 
Mr. Hewitson states that “ the eggs of this species were first added to our collections by the perseverance 
of Mr. Proctor, of Durham, who procured them during his visit to Iceland. The nests be found there 
were upon small islands in the freshwater lochs near the sea-coast. They were composed of very few 
materials — a small quantity of dry grass, with a lining of down and feathers — and contained from four to six 
eggs, which nearly resemble those of the Red-breasted Merganser, but larger, and of a lighter colour.” 
