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RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. Mergus serrator, Linnaeus. French, "Harle Huppé." Like the Goosander, the Red-breasted Merganser is a regular and by no means uncommon autumn and winter visitant to the Channel Islands.
They seem to me to keep the sea better than the Red-breasted Merganser at least, I have not seen them seek shelter so much in the different bays. The Goosander is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen in the Museum at present, though I think there used to be one, but I suppose it has got moth-eaten and been thrown away.
A brood of the goosander or red merganser, the young not yet able to fly, were the occasion of some spirited rowing. But with two pairs of oars in a trim light skiff, it was impossible to come up with them. Yet we could not resist the temptation to give them a chase every day when we first came on the lake. It needed a good long pull to sober us down so we could fish.
Gonepteryx Rhamni, sexual difference of colour in. Goodsir, Prof., on the affinity of the lancelet to the ascidians. Goosander, young of. Goose, Antarctic, colours of the. Goose, Canada, pairing with a Bernicle gander. Goose, Chinese, knob on the beak of the. Goose, Egyptian. Goose, Sebastopol, plumage of. Goose, Snow-, whiteness of the. Goose, Spur-winged.
It seems to me, as I said before, that these birds seek the more sheltered bays during wild squally weather more than the Goosanders do; not but what they can keep the sea well even in bad weather, but I have never seen or shot the Goosander close to the shore seeking smooth water, as I have done the Red-breasted Merganser.
There is no specimen of either bird in the Museum. GOOSANDER. Mergus merganser, Linnaeus. French, "Grand Harle." The Goosander is a regular and tolerably numerous visitant to all the Islands, arriving in the autumn and remaining throughout the winter.
Fish forms an inappreciable portion of their food, with the two notorious exceptions of the goosander and merganser, though anglers are much exercised over the damage, real or alleged, done by these birds to their favourite roach and dace in the Thames.
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