GOOSANDER. 
73 
actually longer than those of the full-grown male, though thinner 
towards its extremities. These circumstances have induced some 
late ornithologists to consider them as two different species, the 
young male, and the female, having been called the Dim-diver, By 
this arrangement they have entirely deprived the Goosander of his 
female ; for in the whole of my examinations and dissections of 
the present species, I have never yet found the female in his dress. 
What I consider as undoubtedly the true female of this species is 
figured beside him. They were hoth shot in the month of April, 
in the same creek, unaccompanied by any other, and, on examina- 
tion, the sexual parts of each were strongly and prominently marked. 
The windpipe of the female had nothing remarkable in it ; that of 
the male had two very large expansions, which have been briefly 
described by Willoughby, who says : “ It hath a large bony laby- 
rinth on the windpipe, just above the divarications ; and the wind- 
pipe hath besides two swellings out, one above another, each re- 
sembling 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 spe- 
cies, 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 Merganser, the Hooded, and the 
Smew, all of whose females are well known, and bear the same 
comparative resemblance in color to their respective males, the 
length of crest excepted, as the female Goosander we have 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 reasoning 
produced, and proceed to describe the female. 
VOL, VIII. 
T 
