pearly drops hang on every leaf, glistening in the bright sunshine, and
thousands of gay insects flutter around. My light canoe is ready. Leap
in, seat yourself snugly in the bow, and sit still while I paddle you
to the green islands of this beautiful lake, where we shall probably
find a Merganser or two, perhaps a female sitting on her eggs. As to
the dog, we need him not; so lie thee down, Baron, until I return.
I was always fond of “paddling my own canoe,” and I never met with a
single accident so long as I managed it myself; but on more occasions
than one I have been turned out as gently as one turns himself in bed,
and having put the frail bark to rights, have assisted the awkward
fellow who had caused the disaster, dived for his gun and my own, and
conducted him to the camp to dry his garments. Therefore, be quiet,
and fear nothing. See! what’s that? Nothing, friend, but the head of
a musk-rat. But look there, how swiftly swims that beautiful Loon!
Heed him not; have I not already told you all that I know about him?
How smooth and silvery are the pure waters, how beautiful those tall
trees! The dogwood is in full bloom, so are the maples, whose rich red
blossoms cluster on the twigs. Here we are just entering the rushes of
this little island. Get out, and wade to the shore with all possible
gentleness; or allow me to do so; for to lighten our slight bark, one
of us must get into the water. Softly we advance as I pull the canoe by
the bow; but now, squat, for here are tracks of the Goosander. There
now lies the female close before us. She thinks we have not seen her,
for she crouches closer upon her eggs. Alarm her not, or she will soon
depart. There she croaks, and scrambling off through the tall grass,
flies off on rapid wings. Look at the nest! count the eggs if you
choose, but allow me, if you please, to describe them.
The islands on which the Goosander is wont to breed are mostly small,
as if selected for the purpose of allowing the sitting bird to get
soon to the water in case of danger. The nest is very large, at times
raised seven or eight inches on the top of a bed of all the dead weeds
which the bird can gather in the neighbourhood. Properly speaking, the
real nest, however, is not larger than that of the Dusky Duck, and is
rather neatly formed externally of fibrous roots, and lined round the
edges with the down of the bird. The interior is about seven and a half
inches in diameter, and four inches in depth. There are seldom more
than seven or eight eggs, which measure two inches and seven-eighths
in length, by two inches in breadth, are of an elliptical form, being
nearly equally rounded at both ends, smooth, and of a uniform dull
cream-colour. The young are led to the water in a few hours after they
are hatched, and are covered with fur-like hair, of a reddish-brown
colour about the head and neck, the body lightish grey. They are
excellent divers, and run on the surface with surprising velocity; but
they are not able to fly for nearly two months, when, being fat, they
are easily fatigued if closely pursued, and on such occasions will
often betake themselves to the shore, lie down, and even allow you to
lay hold of them. My friend THOMAS NUTTALL has given an interesting
account of his chase of a brood of Goosanders.
“Early in the month of May 1832, while descending the Susquehannah near
to Dunstown, a few miles below the gorge of the Alleghanies, through
which that river meanders near the foot of the Bald Eagle Mountain,
G. LYMAN, Esq. and myself observed, near the head of a little bushy
island, some Wild Duck, as we thought, with her brood making off round
a point which closed the view. On rowing to the spot, the wily parent
had still continued her retreat, and we gave chase to the party, which
with all the exertions that could be made in rowing, still kept at a
respectful distance before us. We now perceived that these diminutive
possessors of their natal island were a female Goosander or Dun Diver,
with a small but active little brood of eight young ones. On pushing
the chase for near half an hour, the young, becoming somewhat fatigued,
drew around their natural protector, who now and then bore them along
crowding on her back. At length, stealing nearly from our sight, as the
chase relaxed, the mother landed at a distance on the gravelly shore,
which being nearly of her own grey colour and that of her family,
served for some time, as a complete concealment. When approached
again, however, they took to the water, and after a second attempt,
in which the young strove to escape by repeated divings, we succeeded
in cutting off the retreat of one of the family, which was at length
taken from behind a flat boat under which it had finally retreated to
hide. We now examined the little stranger, and found it to be a young
Merganser of this species, not bigger than the egg of a Goose, and yet
already a most elegant epitome of its female parent, generally grey,
with the rufous head and neck, and the rudiments of a growing crest.
After suffering itself to be examined with great calmness, and without
any apparent fear, we restored it to its more natural element, and, at
the first effort, this little diminutive of its species flew under the
water like an arrow, and coming out to the surface only at considerable
distances, we soon lost sight of it, making good its aquatic retreat
in quest of the parent. On inquiry, we learned from the tavern-keeper,
that for several years past a nest or brood of these birds had annually
been seen near this solitary and secluded island.”
The male Goosanders leave the females immediately after incubation
has commenced, and are then seen in the wildest parts of the country.
Several females are often found breeding on the same island, and it is
after their young are pretty well grown, that they moult. For a number
of years past, I have sometimes entertained a hope, at the approach
of the breeding season, of finding a male Goosander having his head
adorned with a broad erectile crest, like that of the female and young,
but I have hitherto been disappointed, and am therefore unable to say
whether such a crest ever exists in that sex. The young of both sexes
retain the colouring of the female for two years, during which time
the males can be distinguished from the females only by their being
much larger. The males have not the rich buffy tint on the breast
until about two years after they have commenced breeding, and the
first perceptible change by which their sex is distinguished is the
appearance of black feathers on the head and neck. Until of late years,
the females were thought to be of a distinct species, to which the name
of Dun Diver was given.
Many writers have said that this bird breeds in the hollows of trees,
or on their branches; but of the various nests which I have found, not
one occurred in such situations; and the Hooded Merganser is the only
species of this genus which I have observed nestling in an elevated
place.
The notes of the Goosander are harsh, consisting of hoarse croaks,
seldom uttered unless the bird be suddenly startled, or when courting.
The females are usually silent, but when with their young brood, and
pursued, they emit the same guttural sounds as the males. Goosanders
are easily caught with hooks baited with fish; my friend JOHN BACHMAN
has procured them in this manner on the Hudson River, and I also have
on the Ohio.
Along with the representation of a pair of adult birds of this species,
I have given a correct view of the Cohoes Falls in the State of New
York.
MERGUS MERGANSER, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. 208.—_Lath._
Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 828.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of
Birds of United States, p. 397.
GOOSANDER, MERGUS MERGANSER, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. viii.
p.68, pl. 68, fig. 1. Male, and fig. 2. Female.—_Richards.
and Swains._ Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 461.—_Nuttall_,
Manual, vol. ii. p. 460.
Adult Male. Plate CCCXXXI. Fig. 1.
Bill about the length of the head, straight, strong, tapering, higher
than broad at the base, nearly cylindrical toward the end. Upper
mandible with the dorsal outline sloping gently to the middle, then
straight, along the unguis suddenly decurved; the ridge broad at
the base, then convex; the sides sloping rapidly at the base, convex
toward the end; the edges serrated beneath; the unguis oblong, much
curved, abruptly rounded at the end. Nasal groove elongated; nostrils
submedial, linear, direct, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle very
narrow, and extended to the unguis, which is obovate; the sides nearly
erect in their outer half, with a long narrow groove, the edges serrate
within.
Head rather large, compressed, oblong. Neck rather short, thick.
Body full, depressed. Feet placed far behind, short, stout; tibia
bare for about a quarter of an inch; tarsus very short, compressed,
anteriorly covered with small scutella, and another row on the lower
half externally, the sides reticulate. Hind toe very small, with an
inferior free membrane; anterior toes half as long again as the tarsus;
second shorter than fourth, which is almost as long as the third, all
connected by reticulated webs, which are deeply concave; the outer
toe slightly margined, the inner with a broad marginal membrane. Claws
rather small, moderately arched, compressed, acute, that of the middle
toe with a thin inner edge.
Plumage moderately full, dense, soft, glossy. Feathers of the head and
neck silky, blended, elongated along the median line, so as to form a
not conspicuous crest; of the back rather compact; of the lower parts
blended. Wings short, of moderate breadth, convex, acute; primaries
narrow, tapering, the first scarcely shorter than the second, the rest
rapidly graduated; secondaries rather short, narrow, rounded, the inner
elongated and tapering. Tail short, much rounded, of eighteen rather
narrow rounded feathers.
Bill bright vermilion, with the unguis black. Iris carmine. Feet
orange-red in winter, bright vermilion in the breeding season. Head
and upper half of neck greenish-black, splendent, with bright green
reflections; hind part of neck below white; fore part of neck and all
the under parts of a delicate reddish-buff; the sides of the rump and
part of the abdomen greyish-white, finely undulated and dotted with
dark grey; some of the lower wing-coverts dusky, the larger coverts
and primaries light grey. The fore part of the back, and the inner
scapulars, glossy black; the hind part ash-grey, becoming lighter and
finally undulated on the rump. Upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers
deep grey, outer scapulars white; a transverse band of black at the
base of the wing, concealed by the scapulars. Wing-coverts white;
alula, primary coverts, primary quills, and a band formed by the base
of the first row of large coverts, black; secondaries white, six of
them margined externally with a black line, the innermost margined on
both webs, but more broadly on the inner, and with the tip black.
Length to end of tail 27 inches, to end of claws 26-1/2, to end of
wings 24, to carpal joint 13-5/8, to end of green on the neck 7-1/4;
extent of wings 36; bill along the ridge 2-8/12, along the edge
of lower mandible 3-1/12; wing from flexure 11-1/4; tail 5; tarsus
1-(10-1/2)/12; first toe and claw 10/12; outer toe 2-(7-1/2)/12, its
claw (4-1/2)/12; middle toe 2-8/12, its claw 5/12. Weight 5 lb. Of
another 3-3/4 lb.
Dimensions of two other Males:
Length to end of tail, 26 25-7/8 inches.
claws, 27 25
wings, 24 23-1/2
Extent of wings, 38 35
Female. Plate CCCXXXI.
The female is much smaller. The bill, eyes, and feet are coloured as
in the male, but the ridge of the bill is black, and the nail whitish;
the longitudinal crest is much more elongated, being composed of linear
feathers, some of them fully two inches and a half long. Head and upper
part of neck brownish-red; throat white; all the upper parts, with
the sides of the body and rump deep ash-grey, the feathers paler at
the margin. Smaller wing-coverts and inner secondaries grey; bases and
tips of secondary coverts black, the intermediate part white; middle
secondaries white, outer and primaries black; anterior part of neck
below faintly banded with ash-grey; breast and abdomen white, slightly
tinged with buff.
Length to end of tail 24 inches, to end of claws 23-1/2, to end of
wings 20-3/4; extent of wings 34; bill along the ridge 1-11/12, along
the edge of lower mandible 2-1/2; wing from flexure 10-1/4; tail 4-1/2;
tarsus 1-9/12; hind toe and claw (8-1/2)/12; middle toe 2-4/12, its
claw 5/12; outer toe 2-4/12, its claw 4/12.
The young males after the autumnal moult, and until the middle of
summer, resemble the females.
An adult male obtained near Boston examined. The heart is 2 inches
long; the lobes of the liver are nearly equal, the right being 3 inches
7 twelfths long, the left 3 inches 3 twelfths.
The upper mandible has about 28 recurved conical, acute, horny papillæ,
and an internal series of smaller, on each side; the tip of the unguis
serrulate; on the lower mandible are about 40 of the same nature. The
tongue is 2 inches 1 twelfth long, fleshy, emarginate, and papillate at
the base, tapering, with a double row of slender reversed papillæ along
the upper surface, and two lateral series of filaments on each side;
the tip lacerated, horny on the back. Posterior nasal aperture oblong,
10 twelfths in length, papillate on the edges. Aperture of the glottis
4-1/2 twelfths long. The mouth is 10 twelfths in breadth, but may be
extended to 1 inch 9 twelfths. The œsophagus is 10-1/2 inches long, its
diameter 1 inch 7 twelfths on the neck, contracting to 8 twelfths as it
enters the thorax, but again expanding; the external coat of transverse
muscular fibres very thick; the internal layer of longitudinal fibres
very distinct; the mucous coat thrown into prominent longitudinal
plaits when contracted; the mucous follicles disposed in longitudinal
single series. The proventriculus is 2 inches long, the glandules very
numerous, oblong, about 2 twelfths in length, forming a complete belt.
The stomach is a strong gizzard, of moderate size, 2 inches long, the
lateral muscles 5 twelfths thick; the epithelium very thick, nearly 1
twelfth, longitudinally rugous. In the stomach and gullet was a fish
9 inches long, the portions lying in the stomach and proventriculus
partially dissolved, the rest 4 inches long, not acted upon; there were
also two fragments of quartz, one of them a quarter of an inch long.
The intestine is long, measuring 6 feet 3 inches, its diameter from
5 to 3 twelfths. The cœca are 2 inches long, for half an inch 1-1/2
twelfth in diameter, in the rest of their extent 4 twelfths. The rectum
5 inches long, including the cloaca, which has a diameter of an inch
and a quarter.
The trachea, 10-1/2 inches long, has at first a diameter of 4 twelfths,
dilates gradually to 8 twelfths, then contracts to 4 twelfths, enlarges
a second time to 7 twelfths, and gradually contracts to 3 twelfths.
In this space the rings, 146, are strong, broad, and osseous. At
its lower part is an enormous dilatation composed of numerous united
rings, bulging irregularly on the right side and behind, and on the
left expanded into a case having two large spaces filled by membrane;
the greatest diameter of this tympanum is 2 inches and 2 twelfths. The
bronchi come off at the distance of nearly an inch from each other,
and are short, but wide, with about 25 half-rings. The lateral or
contractor muscles are very strong, give off a pair of cleido-tracheals
from the second enlargement, and at the commencement of the labyrinth
the sterno-tracheals, which are also very large; but there are no other
inferior laryngeal muscles.
The intestine of a male in the first winter is 6 feet 8 inches long,
its greatest diameter half an inch, wider towards the rectum than at
the upper part, where the diameter is 4 twelfths. Rectum 4-1/2 inches
long, exclusive of the cloaca. Cœca 2-1/4 inches. Contents of stomach,
remains of fishes and a great quantity of quartz fragments.
An adult Female. Œsophagus 10-1/2 inches long; stomach 2 inches long;
intestine 5 feet 3 inches; rectum 4-1/2; cœca 2-2/12. The trachea
9 inches long, of uniform diameter, 4 twelfths, with a very slight
dilatation toward the lower part, and at the lower larynx contracted
to 3 twelfths; the last ring is very large, laterally dilated, but
symmetrical; the bronchi come off at the distance of 5 twelfths from
each other, and are composed of 25 rings. The tracheal rings 150.
With respect to their digestive organs, the Mergansers are perhaps more
allied to the Divers than to the Ducks. In this, as in other respects,
they seem to be placed on the limits of the two families.
PIED DUCK.
_FULIGULA LABRADORA_, GMEL.
PLATE CCCXXXII. MALE AND FEMALE.
Although no birds of this species occurred to me when I was in
Labrador, my son, JOHN WOODHOUSE, and the young friends who accompanied
him on the 28th of July 1833 to Blanc Sablon, found, placed on the top
of the low tangled fir-bushes, several deserted nests, which from the
report of the English clerk of the fishing establishment there, we
learned to belong to the Pied Duck. They had much the appearance of
those of the Eider Duck, being very large, formed externally of fir
twigs, internally of dried grass, and lined with down. It would thus
seem that the Pied Duck breeds earlier than most of its tribe. It is
surprising that this species is not mentioned by Dr RICHARDSON in the
Fauna Boreali-Americana, as it is a very hardy bird, and is met with
along the coasts of Nova Scotia, Maine, and Massachusetts, during the
most severe cold of winter. My friend Professor MACCULLOCH of Pictou
has procured several in his immediate neighbourhood; and the Honourable
DANIEL WEBSTER of Boston sent me a fine pair killed by himself, on the
Vineyard Islands, on the coast of Massachusetts, from which I made the
drawing for the plate before you. The female has not, I believe, been
hitherto figured; yet the one represented was not an old bird.
The range of this species along our shores does not extend farther
southward than Chesapeake Bay, where I have seen some near the influx
of the St James River. I have also met with several in the Baltimore
market. Along the coast of New Jersey and Long Island it occurs
in greater or less number every year. It also at times enters the
Delaware River in Pennsylvania, and ascends that stream at least as
far as Philadelphia. A bird-stuffer whom I knew at Camden had many
fine specimens, all of which he had procured by baiting fish-hooks
with the common mussel, on a “trot-line” sunk a few feet beneath the
surface, but on which he never found one alive, on account of the
manner in which these Ducks dive and flounder when securely hooked.
All the specimens which I saw with this person, male and female, were
in perfect plumage; and I have not enjoyed opportunities of seeing the
changes which this species undergoes.
The Pied Duck seems to be a truly marine bird, seldom entering rivers
unless urged by stress of weather. It procures its food by diving
amidst the rolling surf over sand or mud bars; although at times it
comes along the shore, and searches in the manner of the Spoonbill
Duck. Its usual fare consists of small shell-fish, fry, and various
kinds of sea-weeds, along with which it swallows much sand and gravel.
Its flight is swift, and its wings emit a whistling sound. It is
usually seen in flocks of from seven to ten, probably the members of
one family.
ANAS LABRADORA, _Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 859.
PIED DUCK, ANAS LABRADORA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. viii.
p. 91, pl. 69, fig. 6. male.
FULIGULA LABRADORA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of
United States, p. 391.
PIED DUCK, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 428.
Adult Male. Plate CCCXXXII. Fig. 1.
Bill nearly as long as the head, rather broader than high at the base,
the sides nearly parallel, but at the end enlarged by soft membranous
expansions to the upper mandible. The latter has the dorsal outline
at first straight and declinate, then direct and slightly convex, at
the extremity decurved; the ridge broad at the base, convex toward the
end; the sides sloping at the base, then convex, the extremity broad
and rounded, the unguis broadly obovate; the margins soft, expanded
toward the end, and with about 50 lamellæ, of which the anterior are
inconspicuous. Nasal groove oblong, nostrils linear-oblong, sub-basal
near the ridge. Lower mandible flattened, curved upwards, with the
angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line very short, and nearly
straight, the nearly erect edges with about 30 large and prominent
lamellæ; the unguis very broad.
Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Eyes small. Neck rather
short and thick. Body full, depressed. Feet very short, strong, placed
rather far behind; tarsus very short, compressed, with two anterior
series of rather small scutella, the sides and back part reticulated
with angular scales. Hind toe very small, with a free membrane beneath;
outer anterior toes double the length of the tarsus, and nearly equal,
the inner much shorter, and with a broad marginal membrane. Claws
small, slightly arched, compressed, rather acute.
Plumage dense, soft, blended; feathers of the head and neck small,
oblong; those on the lower part of the cheeks very stiff, having
the terminal filaments more or less united into a horny plate. Wings
short, of moderate breadth, concave, acute; primary quills curved,
strong, tapering, the second very slightly longer than the first, the
rest rapidly graduated; secondary quills broad and rounded, the inner
elongated and tapering. Tail very short, much rounded, of fourteen
tapering feathers.
Bill with the basal space between the nostrils running into a rounded
point in the middle, pale greyish-blue; the sides of the base, and
the edges of both mandibles for two-thirds of their length, dull pale
orange; the rest of the bill black. Iris reddish-hazel. Feet light
greyish-blue, webs and claws dusky. Head and upper half of neck white,
excepting an elongated black patch on the top of the head and nape.
Below the middle of the neck is a black ring, from the hind part
of which proceeds a longitudinal band of the same colour, gradually
becoming wider on the back and rump; below the black ring anteriorly is
a broad band of white, passing backwards on each side so as to include
the scapulars. All the under parts black, excepting the axillaries and
lower wing-coverts. Upper wing-coverts and secondary quills white, some
of the inner quills with a narrow external black margin; alula, primary
coverts, and primary quills, brownish-black. Tail brownish-black,
tinged with grey, the shafts black; upper tail-coverts dusky, minutely
dotted with reddish-brown.
Length to end of tail 20 inches, to end of claws 22-1/2, to end of
wings 18-1/4; extent of wings 30; wing from flexure 9-1/4; tail 3-5/8;
bill along the ridge 1-3/4, along the edge of lower mandible 2-3/8;
tarsus 1-1/2; middle toe 2-3/8, its claw 3/8, hind toe 4-(1/2)/8, its
claw (1-1/2)/8; outer toe and claw slightly longer than middle: inner
toe 1-7/8, its claw (2-1/2)/8. Weight 1 lb. 14-1/2 oz.
Female. Plate CCCXXXII. Fig. 2.
The female is less than the male. The bill, iris, and feet are
coloured as in the male; sides of the forehead white (not in the
figure, it having been taken from a young bird). The general colour is
brownish-grey, darker on the head, cheeks, back, rump, and abdomen,
of a lighter tint approaching to ash-grey, on the throat, breast,
wing-coverts, and inner secondaries, which are margined externally with
black; seven or eight of the secondary quills white; the primaries and
tail-feathers as in the male.
Length to end of tail 18-1/4 inches, to end of claws 19-3/8, to end
of wings 17; extent of wings 29; wing from flexure 9; tail 3-1/2; bill
along the ridge 1-5/8, along the edge of lower mandible 2-1/8; tarsus
1-1/2; hind toe and claw 3/4; middle toe and claw 2-1/2. Weight 1 lb.
1 oz.
GREEN HERON.
_ARDEA VIRESCENS_, LINN.
PLATE CCCXXXIII. MALE AND YOUNG.