MERGUS SERRATOR.
Merganser.
rgue senator, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 208.
, var. Imcomelas, serratus, et niger, Qmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i.
rganser cristatus, Briss. O n , tom. vi. p. 237, pi. 23.
— niger, Briss. Ora., tom. vi. p. 251.
— serrata, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 165.
If my readers were to picture to then
res a zone in the northern hemisphere between the 40th and 70th
degrees o f latitude, and could furth«
irry in their mind all those parts o f the land that are studded with
lakes, or intersected with river» and
aud salt lagoons, they would then be able to form a just conception of the
area over which the Merganser is spr<spread.
In the British Islands generally all the northern lakes, hays, and
inlets o f the sea are frequented by y it-it.
it also occurs in similar situations in Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Russia, Switzerland, and Savoy, and nd doubtless eh
on all the other waters between the Black Sea and Kamtschatka •
the north o f China and
also among the countries in which it is found. In America it frequents all
the lakes and rivers from Canada to Texas. It is also, I believe, found in Iceland. In the British Islands it
is rather a northern than a southern bird; for although it is sometimes killed as far south as the sheltered
buys of the Hampshire coast, and as far west as the waters o f Cornwall and Scilly, it is during the winter
months only that such occurrences take place. Although comparatively a common bird, and so widely
distributed, I question if more than one out o f twenty o f my readers has seen the Merganser in a state of
nature. To those who have the desire to do so, I may say that the bird is a constant resident in all the
northern parts o f Scotland, Ireland, the Western Islands, Orkney, and Shetland, wherever such situations as
those above described occur. I must remark, however, that its presence depends greatly upon its freedom
from persecution ; if absent from its usual haunts, molestation is the cause. In the London markets, and
doubtless in those o f Liverpool, Manchester, and Edinburgh, specimens may frequently be seen during the
months o f winter, showing that the gunner, in his flat-bottomed boat, has pulled his trigger at the Saw-bill
(** it is commonly called), as well as at the more profitable Mallard. As an article of food, I suspect few
hW* can be more unsuited; and hence the only purchaser o f those that grace the market-shambles is the
i ’towicrmist, who obtains them at-a price remarkably low, especially if they be females, or young males of
the m is mostly the ca se; for the finely-plumaged males either do not migrate so far south, or by the
exercii* -irf greater vigilance contrive to keep out o f harm’s way.
lik e ffee species o f the genus, the Merganser differs very considerably in the colouring of the sexes.
tale, his double-crested green head, showy epaulets, and lovely-coloured breast,
1 o f the handsomest o f our water-birds. This spring or nuptial dress is not,
male has commenced the task o f incubation, or has taken her
as it were, o f his finery, throws off his gai!v-cok>ured feathers,
that o f the female, that at a distance, except by their difference
■ “*# crfbrr. The males are now said to associate by themselves
•fear. both o f their females and o f their progeny. On
f the
the
the approach o f spring the «otnhre dress is ¡sga«.» eveb«
and wooed, and some quiet place on the loch-side stelei
the period whence we started.
I fear that some o f my readers will perceive an inconsi
description; but it is not at all impossible that a nude s
till the month o f July, the period when the young are bat
' Much o f the time o f the Merganser is spent on the
character o f its plumage, and its entire structure are, it
The bird frequently hunts in companies, commencing at the lowei
fishing the whole stream from end to end; and since, as with the v
red, the female sought for
we are brought round to
I t he qmitytog illustration and the
urry his hue gnrb and remain with the female
»deed it is probable that he frequently does so.
The lengthened form o f its body, the oily
Imirably adapted for swimming and diving,
end o f a reach or river, and gradually
racious Cormorant, digestion goes on
quickly, the amount of fish each Merganser takes is enormous. “ Comparisons are odious ” is an old saying
but I cannot omit remarking how vastly more destructive must be this bird to the salmon and trout
than the cheerful little Water-Ouze^^
Independently o f lochs and - rivers, the Merganser seeks its living in most o f the bays ami i.-:;
estuaries, where it feeds on sand-eels and other fishes common to such localities.
The young, as will be seen from the figures in the accompanying Plate, taken from exastMdr* -rflnrut ten