MERGANSERS . 
357 
resemble more a grebe than a duck. Southern Europe, North Africa, and parts of 
Asia are the home of the white-faced stiff-tailed duck (E . leucocephala), distinguished 
by the breadth and size of the 
nail at the end of the beak. In 
other species, such as E. rubida, 
of North, and the ferruginous 
stiff-tailed duck (E . ferruginea ) 
of South America, as well as in 
the Australian E. australis, the 
nail is very small and narrow. 
The great musk-duck ( Biziura 
lobata) of Australia constitutes 
a separate genus, characterised 
by the marked superiority in 
the size of the male over the 
female, and the presence of a 
large lobe of skin depending 
from the chin of the former sex. 
Here also may be mentioned 
the steamer-duck (Tackyeres cinereus) of the Falkland Islands and Patagonia. 
„ Under the general designation of mergansers may be included a 
The Mergansers. . 0 ° ® J 
group of diving and fish-eating birds, which differ from the other 
members of the family in the extreme narrowness of their beaks, although resem¬ 
bling the diving-ducks in the structure of their feet. The beak, which may be either 
longer or shorter than the head, is, in addition to its narrowness, straight and 
slender, furnished on its edges with saw-like lamellae, and terminates in a con¬ 
spicuous hooked nail; the longitudinally elliptical nostrils being lateral and placed 
near the middle of its length. The wings are of moderate length, with the first 
and second quills the longest; and the relatively short legs are placed somewhat 
backwardly on the body. Of the five species of mergansers, four are inhabitants of 
the northern portions of both hemispheres, migrating southwards in winter; while 
the fifth ( Mergus australis ) is from the Aucklands. All the four northern species 
are met with in the British Islands, although two are but casual visitants, and only 
one is a regular breeder. 
The goosander (M. merganser), which is a species occasionally breeding in 
Britain, belongs to a group in which the beak is longer than the head, and has 
long recurved serrations; the metatarsus being rather long, and a depressed and 
pointed crest present in both sexes. A handsomely coloured bird, the adult male 
goosander in its breeding-plumage is characterised by its vermilion beak and the 
shining greenish black head and upper neck, as well as by the lower neck and 
under-parts being whitish, with a rosy tinge on the breast. The upper part of the 
back and scapulars are black, as are the primaries; the lower back, tail-coverts, 
and tail-feathers are ashy grey; and the point of the wing and wing-coverts are 
white. In the female the head and upper neck are pale chestnut, and the upper 
parts and wings, except the white secondaries, mainly grey. In length the male 
varies from 25 to 28 inches. The goosander ranges over the northern portions of 
FERRUGINOUS STIFF-TAILED DUCK. 
