FAM. L. DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 



305 



Red-breasted Merganser 



tends farther down the neck in this species than in the 

 next, and the distance from the nostril to end of bill is less, 

 being in this species 1^ inches, in the next 1|. These fish- 

 eating ducks inhabit both fresh and salt waters, are great 

 divers, and can pursue and catch their food while under the 

 surface. (Goosan- 



der; Shelldrake; 

 Sawbill.) 



Length, 25 ; wing, 

 m (0^-111) ; tail, 5; 

 tarsus, 1|; culmen, 2. 

 North America ; breed- 

 ing from Pennsylvania 

 and Colorado north- 

 ward, and wintering 

 from Maine, Illinois, 

 and Kansas southward. 



42. Red - breasted 

 Merganser {loO. Mer- 



gdnser seircltor). — A common, crested, dark-green-headed, red- 

 dish-breasted, fish duck, with the back made up of white, black, 

 and gray. The reddish breast is streaked Avith blackish, the 

 head and neck are green-glossed, and the rump and sides barred 

 with black and white. The female has the head and upper 

 neck cinnamon-brown, the back gray, and the breast and belly 

 white. The speculum is white, and the throat Avhitish. 



Length, 23 ; wing, 9 (8^-01); tail, 4 ; tarsus, 1^ ; culmen, 2|. North- 

 ern portion of northern hemisphere ; breeding in America from the 

 northern border of the United States northward, and wintering through- 

 out most of the United States. 



43. Hooded Merganser (131. LopJiddytes CKCuIlcitus). — A small, 

 strongl}' crested, fish duck, with black and white head, black 

 back, Avhite belly, and cinnamon-red sides. The head and 

 neck are black except a large, central, fan-shaped part of the 

 very flat, high chest, which is Avhite. The black and Avhite of 

 the low'er neck and breast are so arranged as to give the appear- 

 ance of two white collars, wide and touching in front, narrow 



apgar's birds. — 20 



