92 
GOOSANDER. 
says : “ It liatli a large bony labyrinth on the windpipe, just 
above the divarications ; and the windpipe hath, besides, two 
swellings out, one above another, each resembling a powder 
puff.’’ These labyrinths are the distinguishing characters of 
the males ; and are always found, even in young males who 
have not yet thrown off the plumage of the female, as well as 
in the old ones. If we admit these dun divers to be a distinct 
species, we can find no difference between their pretended 
females and those of the goosander, only one kind of female 
of this sort being known ; and this is contrary to the usual 
analogy of the other three species, viz. the red-breasted mer- 
ganser, the hooded, and the smew, all of whose females are 
well known, and bear the same comparative resemblance in 
colour to their respective males, the length of crest excepted, 
as the female goosander here figured bears to him. 
Having thought thus much necessary on this disputed point, 
I leave each to form his own opinion on the facts and reason- 
ing produced. 
[* The goosander is a broad, long-bodied, and flat-backed 
bird. It is a great diver, and remains under water for a con- 
siderable time. It is very shy, and hard to be obtained, unless 
there is ice in the river, at which time it may be approached 
by stratagem, the shooter and his boat being clothed in white, 
so as to resemble floating ice. It appears to live chiefly upon 
fish, which its sharp-toothed and hooked bill is admirably cal- 
culated for securing. It rises from the water with considerable 
fluttering, its wings being small and short ; but, when in the 
air, it flies with great swiftness. It is a singular circumstance, 
that those goosanders which are seen in the Delaware and 
Schuylkill, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, are principally old 
males. 
The male goosander is twenty-six inches in length, and 
thirty-seven inches in breadth ; the bill, to the angles of the 
* From this to the end of the article, marked off with brackets, is an addi- 
tion to Wilson’s description by Mr Ord. — Ed. 
