437 
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 
NA TA TORES. 
AN AT IB TE. 
IlED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 
Mergus SERRATOR. 
PLATE CXIX. FIG. II. 
Mr. Selby informs me that he and Sir William Jar- 
din e found several nests of this species near the margin 
of Loch Awe in Scotland; it has also been met with 
breeding on the Hebrides, in Shetland, and in Ireland. 
It is one of the commonest of the duck-tribe in Nor¬ 
way; we saw several of them on almost every fiord, 
lake, and river; and few of the larger islands on the 
sea-coast were without them. They prefer the neigh¬ 
bourhood of wood, and are most frequent upon the 
lakes and rivers inland, on the woody borders and lit¬ 
tle islands of which they make their nests, placing them, 
for the most part, at the base of some young spruce-fir 
tree, under the branches of which they are dry and 
sheltered. One of the nests which we found was, never¬ 
theless, upon an island at sea, at some distance from 
the main land, in a bleak and unsheltered situation. 
It was placed among the long grass, in a hole scooped 
in the earth, and forming a most perfect circle; was 
composed of dry grass, lined with down and feathers, 
and just large enough to contain the eggs, six in num¬ 
ber : the bird, however, sometimes lays as many as 
nine. They are most commonly like the one figured, 
