64 



are not very desirable table birds, though some young autumn birds, 

 properly cooked, are not to be altogether despised. 



Economic Status. Mergansers eat fish and, in certain waters, such aS 

 at the heads of salmon streams, they may do appreciable harm. Ordinary 

 trout streams are too small for these species, and as no careful examinatiori 

 of stomach contents has been made they should not be condemned without 

 more exact knowledge. 



129. American Merganser, saw-bill, goosander, shelldrake. shelldttck. 

 FR. — LE HARLB d'amerique. Mevgus americanus. L, 25. Of the same general appearance 

 aa the next species (Plate III A), but the males without crest or reddish breastband. 



Distinctions. See next species. 



Field Marks. General coloration and the lack of crest or breast-band in the male are 

 distinctive. When flying, the long, outstretched head and neck and generally grey- 

 coloured back will separate the females of these two Mergansers from other Ducks having 

 white wing patches. 



Nesting. In hollow trees or rock cavities near water; nest of grasses, etc. 



Distribution. Common across the whole continent, nesting throughout eastern 

 Canada except in the most southern parts. 



The American Merganser is a bird of small rather than large waters 

 and hence is less common on the larger lakes or the sea than the Red- 

 breasted. Otherwise remarks under that species will apply to the American 

 Merganser as their habits are similar. 



Economic Status. See under subfamily heading. 



130. Red-breasted Merganser, saw-bill, fishdttck. shellduck. shell- 

 drake. FR. — LE harle a poitrine rousse bec scie. Mergus serrator. L, 22. Plate 

 III A. 



Distinctions. The ragged crest, and reddish breast-band separated from the head by 

 a conspicuous white collar, are sufficient to diagnose the male of this species. The female 

 and the juveniles of this and the last species are much alike. The bill is, however, consider- 

 ably lighter in build and the nostrils are slightly nearer the base than in the American 

 Merganser. The head is not as rich a brown and the upper throat only a lighter shade 

 of the same colour and not white as in that species. 



Field Marks. The crest and breast-band of the adult male and the lack of the white 

 upperthroat in the females and young birds will separate the Red-breasted from the Ameri- 

 can Merganser. The grey appearance of the back and the length of the outstretched 

 head and neck will diagnose the species as a Merganser against other Ducks having white 

 wing patches. 



Nesting. On ground near water, sometimes in trees. 



Distribution. Occurs more or less commonly over the whole of Canada, nesting where- 

 ever found except in the more southern parts. 



A bird of the open waters, hence more often seen on the open lakes and 

 the sea than the preceding species. 



Economic Status. See subfamily heading. 



131. Hooded Merganser, fr. — le petit harle. Lophodytes cucullatus. L, 17-50. 

 The smallest of our Mergansers. The male is a most striking black and white bird with 

 rich chestnut flanks. Its distinctive ornament, the hood, is a flat disk-hke crest spring- 

 ing from the base of the bill, arching over the crown, meeting the neck at the base of the 

 head, and coloured mostly pure white with a narrow black edge. The female is a much 

 duller coloured bird with brownish-fuscous body, lighter below, and with a ragged, shghtly 

 reddish crest, in shape similar to that pictured in Plate III A. 



Distinctions. The hood of the male is unlike anything else worn by American birds. 

 The female can always be distinguished from other Mergansers by its smaU size. 



