525 



THE SMEW. 



MERGUS ALBELLUS. 



Crest, neck, scapulars, smaller wing-coverts, and all the under parts white ; 

 cheeks and back of the head greenish black ; two crescent-shaped marks 

 advancing from the shoulders on each side to the breast black ; tail ash 

 colom-ed ; bill and feet bluish grey, the membranes black ; irides brown. 

 Length seventeen inches. Female smaller ; head and cheeks reddish brown ; 

 under parts white, clouded on the breast, flanks, and rump, with ash-grey : 

 upper plumage and tail greyish black ; wings variegated with black, white, and 

 grey. Eggs whitish. 



The birds of this genus, though placed among the 

 Anatidse or Duck tribe, are so strongly marked by the 

 conformation of the bill that a simple examination of the 

 head alone will enable the student to distinguish either of 

 the species from the true Ducks already described. On 

 the coast of IvTorfolk the popular name "Smee Duck" 

 includes several kinds of Ducks, and I presume the present 

 species ; but the bill, in the form of an elongated and almost 

 cylindrical cone, with the edges of both mandibles furnished 

 with saw-like teeth pointed backwards, cannot fail to dis- 

 tinguish the genus Mergus. 



The Smew, or Smee, properly so called, is a winter visitor 

 with us, more impatient of cold than the Duck-tribe 

 generally, and consequently frequenting the southern more 

 than the northern parts of the island. In open weather 

 it resorts to our rivers and fresh- water lakes, where it feeds 

 on small fish and other aquatic animals, which it obtains 

 by diving. In severe frosts it either flies farther south or 

 repairs to tidal rivers and harbours. Though not a rare 

 bird, it is sparingly distributed. It is found on many of 

 the continental rivers, even those which are far distant 

 from the sea, but is not often killed, as it is shy of being 

 approached, readily takes wing, flies swiftly, and as a diver 

 is most rapid and expert. It is, however, little sought 

 after, for, in spite of its relationship, its strong fishy 



