merganser
(mɜːˈgænsə(r))
[mod.L. (Gesner 1555), f. merg-us diver (water-fowl) + anser goose. The name is given by Willughby (1676) and Albin (1731) as Latin, with the Eng. equivalent ‘goosander.’]
Any bird of the genus Mergus or subfamily Merginæ, fish-eating ducks of great diving powers, with long narrow serrated bill hooked at the tip, inhabiting the northern parts of the Old World and N. America; esp. Mergus merganser, the common merganser or goosander. M. serrator is the Red-breasted Merganser, M. cucullatus the Hooded Merganser of N. America, M. albellus the White Merganser or smew.
| 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 437 Mergus crista dependente, capite nigro-cærulescente collari albo. The Merganser. 1759 B. Stillingfl. tr. Biberg's Econ. Nat. in Misc. Tracts (1762) 103 In the autumn, when the fishes hide themselves in deep places, the merganser..supplies the gull with food. 1768 Pennant Zool. (1776) II. 471 Red Breasted Merganser. 1840 Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 266 The Bay-breasted M[erganser] (M. serrator). Ibid. 267 The Hooded M[erganser]. 1852 Macgillivray Brit. Birds V. 199 The Mergansers, although few in number, seem yet to form a very distinct family. 1856 F. O. Morris Brit. Birds V. 270 Smew... White Nun. White Merganser. 1879 C. Napier Lakes & Rivers iv. 117 The Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) is one of the most beautiful of our ducks. |