GENUS XXXII.—THE MERGANSER, OR DIVING

GOOSE.

Gen. Char-Bill slender, a little depressed, furnished with a crooked nail at the end, edges very sharply serrated; nostrils, near the middle of the mandible, small and subovated; tongue slender; feet, the exterior toe longer than the middle.

Species 1.-The Goosander.

Goosander, Wil. Orn. 335. Dundiver or Sparling-Fowl, Ibid. Raii Syn. Av. 134. Mergus Merganser, Lin. Sys. 208. Brit. Zool. 436. Brit. Zool. Illus. tab. 83. Orc. Harle.

WITH us the Goosander continues the whole year, and may be seen every day in numbers on the lakes and in the sea; builds on the small holms of the loch of Stenness, along with other birds; in harvest and winter fly in large flocks, in summer in pairs; the male and female are then strict companions, but, like many other birds, when breeding-time is over, part company, and lose acquaintance.

The description of this bird is exactly the same as in the British Zoology, only I take the second species there described to be the female of the above, as those I have killed are of the same weight, have the very same marks; and indeed I cannot think I am mistaken, as I have killed both birds together.

I once killed a bird of this kind in Orkney which weighed two pounds, except two ounces; it was a male, the colours were the same, the shape of the bill and legs the same as in the larger goosander, only the whole head, neck, and breast were black. It could not be a young bird, as it was in March I shot it, when these birds have not bred.-Quære, What bird might it have been the male of?

The goosanders are excellent swimmers and divers; continue very long under water; are excellently furnished for seizing and holding any small fish they can catch in the water; the bill is not only formed with a nail or hook, but the edges are toothed the whole way, so that there is no escape for the prey.

The colours of the bill and head of the male and female are much different. In the former it is of a fine red, especially in the spring, the head and crest black, with a white collar about the neck. In the female, the bill is dusky above and red below; the head and neck brown inclining to red; the ring not so well defined; the whole body is much browner; the marks on the wings are the same, only fainter in the female.

GENUS XXXIII.-DUCKS.

Gen. Char.-Bill strong, broad, flat, or depressed, and commonly furnished at the end with a nail, edges marked with sharp lamellæ ; nostrils small, oval; tongue broad, edged near the base, fringed; feet, middle toe longest.

Species 1.-The Wild Swan.

Wild Swan, Elk, or Hooper, Wil. Orn. 356. Raii Syn. Av. 136. Anas Cygnus ferus, 194. Brit. Zool. 440. Sib. Scot. 21.

THE Wild Swan is found at all seasons in Orkney; a few pairs build in the holms of the loch of Stenness. Here, in that fine piece of water,—

The stately sailing swan

Gives out his snowy plumage to the gale;

And arching proud his neck, with oary feet,

Bears forwards fierce..

But, alas for the taste of our Orcadians! he cannot

Guard his osier isle,

Protective of his young.

But the few that build here never increase; are always rob bed by the country people. These, however, are nothing to

the flocks that visit us in October from the northern climates, their summer retreats. Part of these continue with us all winter, and the rest go to Caithness and the other northern shires of Scotland; in April they go off again to the northward, except, as I said before, the few which remain here for the summer.

When the swans go soon away, our country people expect a forward season; but when they fly south in the spring, fear the worst.

Like the wild geeese, these birds fly in the fashion of a wedge, making a fine melodious clang, which has perhaps furnished one occasion to give a musical voice to this bird.

Species 2.-The Goose.

Tame Goose, Common Wild Goose, Wil. Orn. 358, sp. 1, 2. Raii Syn. Av. 136, sp. 3, 4. Anas Anser, A. ferus ß, domesticus, Lin. Sys. 197. Brit. Zool. 447. Brit. Zool. Illus. tab. 84.

THE Wild Goose is very seldom seen here, pays us no regular visits; I have heard, however, an instance or two of a male joining itself to a flock of tame geese, and continuing with them the whole season.

Tame geese in Orkney are bred in vast quantities; not so much as the smallest farmer but has his flock of these; they are part of the rents of the farms, and strictly exacted; when

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sold to the merchant fetch about eightpence or tenpence, seldom above the last price.

When cured many of them are sent to the Leith market, where they sell tolerably well; but the feathers of geese make a very considerable article in our Orkney exports: these are sold at about tenpence or a shilling per pound, and the demand is still great for them. method of plucking our geese till they are killed, which is in November, when there is a general slaughter of the birds of the same year, and none kept but a few for Christmas, and the brood geese for next season.

We have not here
We have not here got into the

Species 3.-The Bernacle.

Bernacle or Clakis, Wil. Orn. Raii Syn. Av. 137. Sib. Scot. 21. Brit. Zool. 451. Anas Erythropus, (mas), Lin. Sys. 197.

THE Bernacle sometimes appears here in flocks in spring, I suppose in their way to the north country; for any thing I can learn, do not build here, and but touch here by chance. I met with a skin of one of those which was killed out of a flock which had hovered here a while in their passage. The bill was short and black, with oblong nostrils; the head small; the neck long and slender; the face and cheeks white; the rest of the head, the throat, and breast, as also the back, a good black; the root of the tail white; the tail black; the wings