506 
THE STORY OF THE BIRDS. 
i 
two inches. The female at all times, and the male in the breeding-season, 
have the wings colored as above, and the whole of the rest of the plumage 
variegated with dusky and ochre, the former appearing in the center of the 
feathers and on the upper-parts, and the latter on the edges of the feathers 
and lower-parts. The mallard inhabits the whole of the Northern .Hemi¬ 
sphere, although its chief range is restricted to the zone lying between the 
Arctic Circle and the Tropic. 
Hooded Merganser—The mergansers are better known by their common 
name goosander. Very different from any of the family is the hooded mer¬ 
ganser, distinguished by the black beak being shorter than the head, and 
more especially by the full semicircular, erect and compressed crest of hair¬ 
like feathers. In the male the head and upper neck are black, with the excep¬ 
tion of the hinder part of the crest, which is white edged with black; and 
the white breast is marked on each side by two black bands. Mainly North 
American, where it ranges from Alaska to Mexico, this merganser is a 
casual visitor to Europe. Although in Europe the mergansers generally 
frequent the coast, those which visit India are more commonly observed 
on inland waters. All are strong, heavy fliers, and most expert swimmers 
and divers; but on the land their movements are awkward and ungainly. 
Their food consists entirely of fish, molluscs, and shell fish, most of which 
are procured by diving; and in consequence of this diet their flesh is unpalat¬ 
able in the extreme. When fishing in flocks, as is often the habit of the 
goosander, the whole party may frequently be seen to dive at the same 
time; although not uncommonly a few remain above water as if to act as 
sentinels. While the red-breasted merganser nests on the ground among 
bushes, heather, or long grass, the goosander nearly always, if not invariably, 
selects a hollow tree, or, failing that, a cleft in a rock, as a breeding-place, 
sometimes taking advantage of the nest of a crow or other bird. The 
creamy-white eggs are from eight to twelve in number; and the young, as 
soon as hatched, are carried down one by one from the nest to the water 
in the beak of their parent. When floating at ease the goosander sits as 
high in the water as a duck but when swimming settles down as deep as a 
cormorant. 
The Bean Goose—Well known in Great Britain, the bean goose may be 
readily distinguished from the gray-leg goose by the black nail of the beak; 
the middle portion of the beak being orange-yellow, .and its base black; 
while the legs and feet are also orange-yellow or orange. This goose ranges 
over the greater part of the northern half of the Old World, occurring 
