98 
BUFF-BREASTED MERGANSER, OR GOOSANDER. 
Mergus merganser, Linn . 
PLATE CCCCXI.— Male and Female. 
This species may be said to be a constant resident with us, as many 
individuals breed in the interior of the states of New York, Massachusetts, 
and Maine. When I first resided in Kentucky, some bred there also,, 
although at the present day none pass the summer in that country. In the 
latter part of autumn, in winter, and in early spring, they are found in all 
parts of the Union ; in Texas I procured some in April, 1837, and in the 
beginning of May saw a considerable flock in Galveston Bay. How much 
farther southward their migrations extend I know not, but from having 
observed them coming from that direction, I suspect that they advance pretty 
far into the interior of Mexico, from which some perhaps cross to the 
Arkansas river, on which I have also seen them. On the Mississippi, the 
Ohio, and their tributaries, Goosanders are found during the coldest weather ; 
and when the larger streams are covered with ice, they betake themselves to 
such smaller creeks as have very rapid currents or cascades, about which 
they feed. But there are parts of our southern coast, where they are 
exceedingly rare, such as South Carolina, where my friend Dr. Bachman 
has never seen one, and the Floridas, in which none occurred to me during 
my rambles there. Indeed one is surprised to find that among birds like 
this, which is so hardy as to remain in our North-eastern States during the 
severest part of the winter, some should extend their movements at the same 
season as far to the south-west as Texas ; but facts like these are beyond 
our philosophy. In the lower parts of Louisiana, this species is called the 
“ Bec-scie-de-mer,” probably because there it is found only on the large 
salt-water lakes, and about the mouths of the Mississippi, and to distinguish 
it from the Hooded Merganser, which there is more usually seen on fresh 
water. I have been assured by Professor MacCulloch of Pictou that it 
now and then breeds in Nova Scotia. Yet I found none in Labrador or 
Newfoundland, where the Red-breasted species was breeding in great num- 
bers. Dr. Richardson found it in abundance in the Pur Countries. 
The Goosander is a vigorous and robust bird. It swims deeply, but with 
considerable speed, even against a strong current, running waters being 
