autumn, and retire in spring to various parts of Scandinavia,
and otlier high northern localities. In winter, particularly
during severe weather, they are not uncommon on our coast,
appearing to prefer bays' and estuaries, but sometimes* pursuing
the course of rivers and visiting inland-waters. They
do not confine themselves,, in their visits,' to any particular
counties. They frequent the eastern coast .as mentioned by
Mr. Selby, in his catalogue of the Birds of Notthumberland
and- Durham, Holy Island, and the- Fern. I s l a n d ^ ^ p f
favourite localities. Thence they pursue a course southwards
by Yorkshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. The Rev. L. JenynS
told me that a female had been killed in Burwell Fen, Cambridgeshire,
in summer. They are more rare t<p the shores
of Kent, but visit the Thames,-where they-’ are cafed Saw-
bills, in referen^' fcB their conspicuously toothed and
Mr. Jesse sent -me a fine 'specimen that was. shot during
severe weather above Putney Bridge. The Red-breasted
Merganser is included in the- catalogues of the Birds of
Dorsetshire; I have, had specimens’ sent me from Devonshire.
I t has been killed in Cornwall,"and as high up the
Severn as the vicinity of Worcester/ MrV Dillwyn. has
noticed Its-.oe&arrence a t ‘Swansea,-and it-has been obtained
on the coasts of North Wales and Lancashire.
In reference to the breeding stations of this .species, Mr.
Thompsonsays it is indigenous-to Ireland, aestl-ing on islets
both of marine and fresh-water loughs. Pennant has recorded
its breeding in the Isle of Islay. Sir W. Jardine and
Mr. Selby found nests of this species when on a fishing excursion
upon Loch Awe, in Argyleshire.,. One of these nests
was upon a small wooded island, placed among, thick brushwood,
under the covert of a projecting rock, and completely
surrounded with nettles, long grasses, and fern. I t was care-?
fully made of moss, plucked from the adjoining rocks, mixed
with the down of the bird; l)oth in structure and materials
resembling that of the Eider Duck. I t contained nine eggs,
of a rich reddish-yellowy or fawn colour. The bird was remarkably
tame, sitting until nearly taken with a small hand-
net. " -Sir W. Jardine very kindly sent me one Of these eggs
for my eollection; it measured two inches and a half in
length, ■ and one inch and. three quarters in breadth. The
males Jeave fthe females as'soon as incubation commences.
Mr. J. Macfifillivray, who visited the outer Hebrides in the
summer of 1840,, says, that a -few remain there during the
breeding-season,: and he .took a nestowith eggs on a small
island between- Killigray and Ob, in ’ the sound of Harris.
Pennankmenflins that the Red-breasted Merganser had been
found breeding at Loch Maree in Ross-shire; and Mr. Selby,
when with a party exploring Sutherlandshire, in June 1884,
says, it was very, plentiful upon all the lochs, but only a few
at that time had Commenced incubation.
" Mr'. Robert Dunn, ‘in: hi«?“ Ornithologist’s Guide to the
Islands of Orkney and Shetland,1’ says;- this wary bird is very
plentiful in both countri^,, and is a constant resident; it is
extremelyv5§byi.^tel‘^ll times. * In the summer season the male
loses his beautiful plumage, and approaches in colour to that
of the female;.1 ; This bird is seldom seen far from land, but
frequents the inlets and inland lakes.
Mr. Hewitson, during his trip to the west coast of Norway,.
observed that the-Red-rbreasted Merganser was frequent
upon most of the lakes and rivers ; .the eggs were laid under
shelter,'either upon thidr. margins or their numerous woody
islands. Richard Dann, Esq. , sent me word that the Merganser
is far more numerously spread over Norway and
Sweden than the Goosander; it breeds on all the coasts,
and is also found, in the Dofre Fiell and Lapland mountains
as high as the birch grows. This species is found in Iceland
and at the Faroe Islands ; in Russia, and on the great rivers
of Siberia and Lake Baikal. Its food is fish, obtained by