188 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



mainly white. A dull female: Very similar in color to that of M. americanus, but dis- 

 tinguished by different position of the nostrils, and different outline of the feathering 

 at base of the bill, fcize also smaller. 



Merganser americanus (Cass.) 



AMERICAN MERGANSER. 



Popular synonyms. Buff-breasted Merganser; Buff- breasted Sheldrake: Saw-bill; Fish 

 Duck; Sheldrake, etc. 



Mergus merganser WILS. Am. Orn. viii. 1814, 68, pi. G8 (nee LINN.). Sw. & RICH. F. B.-A. 

 ii, 1831, -161. NUTT. Man. ii, 1831, 460. AUD. Orn. Biog. iv, 1838, 2(51, pi. 331; Synop.1839, 

 297; B. Am. vi, 1843, 387, pi. 411. COUES, Key, 1872, 296; Check List, 1873, No. 521; 2d 

 ed. 1882, No. 743; Birds N. W. 1874, 583. HENSH. Zool. Wheeler's Exp. 1875, 483. 

 Merous americanus CASS. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. vi, 1853, 187. BAIKD, B. N. Am. 1858, 

 813; Cat. N. Am B. 1859, No. 611. 



Merous castor, a. americanus BONAP. Comttt. Rend, xliii, 1856. 652. 



Mergus merganser ft . americanus RIDGW. Orn. 40th Par. 1877. 627. 



Mergus merganser americanus RIDGW. Proc. U. S.Nat. Mus. iii, 1880. 205; Nom. N. Am. B. 

 188l,No. 630'. B. B. & R. Water B. N. Am. ii, 1884, 112. 



Merganser americanus STEJN. Orn. Expl. Kamtsch. 1885, 177. A.O. U. Check List, 1886, 

 No. 129. RIDGW. Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 89. 



HAB. Whole of North America, breeding from northern border of United States north- 

 ward. 



SP. CHAK. Adult male: Head and upper half (or more) of the neck deep black, the 

 elongated feathers of the pileum and nape distinctly, other portions faintly, glossed with 

 greenish; whole back and innermost scapulars deep black; rump, upper tai'.-coverts, and 

 tail, plain cinereous ; sides of the crissum (anteriorly) and femoral region, whitish, narrowly 

 barred with slate-color; primary-coverts, primaries, and outer secondaries, plain blackish 

 dusky. Remainder of the plumage fine light salmon-buff in life, lading to buff y white in 

 dried skins; innermost secondaries narrow y skirted with black; bae of the r eater 

 cove ts deep black, foi mine a distinct bar about half way across the wing; anierinr border 

 of the wingdusky grayish or blackish. Bill deep vermilion-red, tht j cuhnen and nail black ; 

 feet deepred; iris carmine. Adult female: Head and upper hall of the neck reddish cinna- 

 mon, the pileum a-d occipital crest (the latter much longer than in the male) more brown, 

 the lores grayish; chin, throat, and maiar region, white; upper parts, sides, and flanks 

 bluish gray, the innermost secondaries while, the exposed portion of the lower greater 

 coverts white, tipped with dusky; outermost secondaries, primary coverts, and primaries, 

 uniform slate-color. Lower parts, except laterally, pale creamy salmon-t olor, fading to 

 nearly white in dried specimens, the feathers of the chest ash-gray beneath the surface. 

 Bill, eyes, and feet, as in the male, but less brilliant in color. 



Downy Young. Upper hall of the head, with nape, reddish brown, more reddish on the 

 nape, where encroaching on the sides ot the neck; remaining upper parts hair-biown, or 

 grayish umber, relieved by four white spots, one on the posterior border of each wing, and 

 one on each side the rump; lower parts white; a stripe on the lower half of th lores, run- 

 ning backward beneath the eye, white: below this a narrower st ipe of deep brown, 

 from the rictus to the auricular region; a wide stripe, occup\ ing the upper half of the loi es, 

 from the b 11 tothe eye, bla kish brown, this separated from the umber of the forehead by 

 a very indistin t streak of brownish white or pale brown.* 



Adult male. Total length, about 27 inches, extent, 36; wing. 10.50-11.25; culmen, 1.90-2.20; 

 tarsus, 1.90-2.00; middle toe, 2. 10-2.50. Adult ft-male. Total length, abou' 24 inches, extent, 

 34; wing, 9 60-9.75; culmen, 1.80-2.00; tarsus, 1.85-1.90; midd.e toe. 2.25-2.40. 



* Described from No. 5,783, Bridger's Pass, Rocky Mountains, Aug. 13, 1856 ; W. S. Wood. 

 Distinguishable with certainty from the young of M. serrator by the different position of 

 the nostril. 



