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MERGANSER

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 164 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MERGANSER , a word due to C. See also:

Gesner (Hist. animalium iii. 129) in 1555, and for See also:long used in See also:English as the See also:general name for a See also:group of See also:fish-eating ducks possessing See also:great diving See also:powers, and forming the genus Mergus of See also:Linnaeus, now regarded by ornithologists as a sub-See also:family, Merginae, of the family Anatidae. The mergansers have a long, narrow See also:bill, with a small but evident See also:hook at the tip, and the edges of both mandibles beset by numerous horny denticulations, whence in English the name of saw-bill " is frequently applied to them. Otherwise their structure does not much depart from the Anatine or Fuliguline type. All the See also:species See also:bear a more or less See also:developed See also:crest or tuft on the See also:head. Three of them, Mergus merganser or See also:castor, M. serrator, and M. albellus, are found over the See also:northern parts of the Old See also:World, and of these the first two also inhabit See also:North See also:America, which has besides a See also:fourth species, M. cucullatus, said to have occasionally visited See also:Britain. M. merganser, commonly known as the goosander, is the largest species, being nearly as big as the smaller geese, and the adult male in breeding-attire is a very beautiful See also:bird, conspicuous with his dark glossy-See also:green head, See also:rich See also:salmon-coloured See also:breast, and the upper See also:part of the See also:body and wings See also:black and See also:white. This full plumage is not assumed till the second See also:year, and in the meantime, • as well as in the See also:post-nuptial See also:dress, the male much resembles the See also:female, having, like her, a reddish-See also:brown head, the upper parts See also:grey and the See also:lower white. In this See also:condition the bird is often known as the " dun See also:diver." This species breeds abundantly in many parts of Scandinavia, See also:Russia, See also:Siberia and North America, and occasionally in See also:Scotland. M. serrator, commonly called the red-breasted merganser, is a somewhat smaller bird; and, while the fully-dressed male wants the delicate See also:hue of the lower parts, he has a See also:gorget of rufous mottled with black, below which is a patch of white feathers, broadly edged with black. Both these species have the bill and feet of a See also:bright reddish-See also:orange, while the much smaller M. albellus, known as the smew, has these parts of a See also:lead See also:colour, and the breeding plumage of the adult male is white, with See also:quaint crescentic markings of black, and the flanks most beautifully vermiculated.

End of Article: MERGANSER

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