310 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



patch; under parts white; bill reddish-brown; feet reddish- 

 orange. 



Nest, in a hollow tree. Eggs, white, tinged with buff. 



The American Merganser is a summer resident of the 

 streams and lakes in northern New Hampshire, and in 

 northern and eastern Maine. In the rest of New England 

 it occurs as a rather common migrant along the larger 

 streams, and as a winter visitant wherever falls and rapids 

 keep the streams open during the winter, as on the 

 Merrimac below Manchester, N. H., and along the Con- 

 necticut below Enfield ; it is " tolerably common " along 

 the Hudson from January to March. Like the preceding 

 species, it is an expert diver, and pursues small fish in 

 the shallow water. When it rises from the water, it gen- 

 erally pats the surface for some distance with its feet, show- 

 ing the broad white patches on the wing. (See preceding 

 species.) 



CORMORANTS, GANNETS, ETC.: ORDER 

 STEGANOPODES 



CORMORANTS: FAMILY PHALACROCORACIDiE 



Double-crested Cormorant. Phalacrocorax d-ilophus 



30.00 



Ad. — Apparently entirely black; in breeding plumage a tuft 

 of feathers rises from each side of the head, but these are want- 

 ing after mid-summer. Im. — Head and neck and under parts 

 grayish-brown. 



The Double-crested Cormorant is a summer resident from 

 the Bay of Eundy northward, and occurs as a not uncom- 

 mon migrant along the coast of New York and New Eng- 

 land, passing north in April and May, and returning from 

 August to November. It winters sparingly in southern New 

 England. 



