CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 117 



740. CEdemia perspicillata trowbridgii (Bel.) Coues. B cos. c 5i8a. R - 



Long-billed Surf Duck. 



741. Erismatura rubida (Wils.) Bp. B 609. c 510. R 634. 



Ruddy Duck. 



742. Nomonyx dominica (L.) Kidg. B 6io. c 520. R 635. 



St. Domingo Duck. 



743. Mergus merganser L. B en. c 521. R 636. 



Merganser ; Goosander. 



744. Mergus serrator L. B 012. c 522. R 637. 



Red-breasted Merganser. 



745. Mergus cucullatus L. B 613. c 523. R ess. 



Hooded Merganser. 



746. Sula bassana (L.) Briss. B 617. c 524. R 650. 



Gannet ; Solan Goose. 



747. Sula leucogastra (Bodd.) Salv. B 618. c 525. R 652. 



Booby Gannet. 



748. Pelecanus trachyrhynchus Lath. B 615. c 526. R 640. 



American White Pelican. 



740. O. p. trow-brid'-gi-i. To W. P. Trowbridge, who collected in California. 



741. Er-Is-ma-tu'-ra rub'-i-da. Gr. epei(r/j.a, a stay, prop, pier, and ovpa, tail, as the stiffened 



member of the bird might seem to be. Lat. rubidus, ruddy, reddish. 



742. N6m-o'-nyx dom-in'-i-ca. Gr. i/6/uos, law, order, regular way, and uVu, nail. The nail at 



the end of the bill in all the species of so-called Erismatura, except rubida, is formed in a 

 particular way. See Dcndmca, No. 129. 



743. Mer'-gus mer-gan'-ser. Lat. mergtts, a diver; mergo, I dive, mergcre, mersi, mersttm; 



whence submerged, immersed, &c. Merganser is simply merr/us + anser, i. e., diving- 

 goose. 



744. M. ser-ra'-tor. Lat. serrator, a sawyer ; serratus, sawn, i. e., saw-shaped, serrate, serried, 



as the prominent teeth of the bill look like those of a saw ; se.rra, a saw ; supposed to be 

 equal to secra, from seco, I cut. 



745. M. cu-cul-la'-tus. Lat. cncullatus, hooded, wearing the cnculltim, a kind of hood, a capu- 



chon, perhaps from its circular shape (KVK\OS). Very appropriate in this case. 



746. Su'-la bas-sa'-na. Suln, by Agassiz given as a proper name, was Latinized lately from 



the French name, Le Side. Quasi-Lat. bassanus is an adjective derived from the name 

 of one of the great haunts of the bird, the Bass Rock, Firth of Forth, Scotland. 



747. S. leu-co-gas'-tia. Gr. \evit6s, white, and yaa-r-fip, the belly. 



This stands as S.Jiber in the orig. ed. See Salv., Tr. Z. S. ix, pt. ix, 1875, p. 496. 



748. Pel-e-ca'-nus trach-y-rhynch'-us. Gr. irf^Kav, or TreAeKiVos, or Lat. pekcamis, a pelican. 



The etymology is obscure; but the pelican was fabled to strike and wound its own 

 breast, that the young might be nourished with blood ; and there are various Greek and 

 Latin words signifying some cutting and striking instrument, as an axe, which are 

 nearly identical in form with the above. Gr. rpaxi>s, rough, uneven, and pvyx *- ''"' 

 beak; with reference to the deciduous excrescence or " centre-bo ird " on the upper 

 mandible. 



