188 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



mainly white. A dult female: Very similar in color to that of M. americanus, but dis- 

 tinguished by different position of the nostrils, and different outline of the feathering 

 at base of the bill, fcize also smaller. 



Merganser americanus (Cass.) 



AMERICAN MERGANSER. 



Popular synonyms. Buff-breasted Merganser; Buff- breasted Sheldrake: Saw-bill; Fish 



Duck; Sheldrake, etc. 

 Mergus merganser Wils. Am. Orn. viii. 1814, 68, pi. 68 (nee Linn.).— Sw. & Rich. F. B.-A. 



ii, 1831, 461.— Nutt. Man. ii, 1834, 460.— Aud. Orn. Biog. iv, 1838,261, pi. 331; Synop.1839, 



297; B. Am. vi. 1843, 387, pi. 411.— Coues, Key, 1872, 296; Check List, 1873, No. 521; 2d 



ed. 1882, No. 743; Birds N. W. 1874, 583.— Hensh. Zool. Wheeler's Exp. 1875, 483. 

 Mergus americanus Cass. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. vi, 1853, 187— Baied, B. N. Am. 1858, 



813; Cat. N. Am B. 1859, No. 611. 

 Mergus castor, a. americanus Bonap. Comot. Rend, xliii, 1856. 652. 

 Mergus merganser ft. americanus Ridgw. Orn. 40th Par. 1877, 627. 

 Mergus merganser americanus Ridgw. Proc. U. S.Nat. Mus.iii, 1880, 205; Nom. N. Am. B- 



1881, No. 636.— B. B. A R. Water B. N. Am. ii, 1884, 112. 

 Merganser americanus Stejn. Orn. Expl. Kamtsch. 1885, 177.— A.O. U. Check List, 1886, 



No. 129— Ridgw. Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 89. 

 Hab. Whole of North America, breeding from northern border of United States north- 

 ward. 



Sp. Chae. Adult male: Head and upper half (or more) of the neck deep black, the 

 elongated feathers of the pileum and nape distinctly, other portions faintly, glossed with 

 greenish; wholeback and innermost scapulars deep black; rump, upper tail-coverts, and 

 tail, plain cinereous; sides of the crissum (anteriorly) and femoral region, whitish, narrowly 

 barred with slate-color; primary-coverts, primaries, and outer secondaries, plain blackish 

 dusky. Remainder of the plumage fine light salmon-buff in life, fading to buffy white in 

 dried skins; innermost secondaries narrowly skirted with black; base of the ■ reater 

 cove ts deep black, forming a distinct bar about half way across the wing; anterior border 

 of the wingdusky grayish or blackish. Bill deep vermilion-red, the culmen and nail black; 

 feet deep red ; iris carmine. A dull female: Head and upper halt of the neck reddish cinna- 

 mon, the pileum a' d occipital crest (the latter much longer than in the male) more brown, 

 the lores grayish; chin, throat, and malar region, white; upper parts, sides, and flanks 

 bluish gray, the innermost secondaries white, the exposed portion of the lower greater 

 coverts white, tipped with dusky; outermost secondaries, primary coverts, and primaries, 

 uniform slate-color. Lower pa7ts, except laterally, pale creamy salmon-c olor, fading to 

 nearly white in dried specimens, the feathers of the chest ash-gray beneath the surface. 

 Bill, eyes, and feet, as in the male, but less brilliant in color. 



Downy Young. Upper hall of the head, with nape, reddish brown, more reddish on the 

 nape, where encroaching on the sides of the neck; remaining upper parts hair-brown, or 

 grayish umber, relieved by four white spots, one on the posterior border of each wing, and 

 one on each side the rump; lower parts white; a stripe on the lower half of th • lores, run- 

 ning backward beneath the eye, white; below this a narrower st. ipe of deep brown, 

 from the rictus to the auricular region; a wide stripe, occupying the upper half of the loies, 

 from the bdl tothe eye, bla kish brown, this separated from the umber of the forehead by 

 a very indistin t streak of brownish white or pale brown.* 



Adult male. Total length, about 27 inches, extent, 36; wing, 10.50-11.25; culmen, 1.90-2.20; 

 tarsus, 1.90-2.00; middle toe, 2.10-2.50. Adult female. Total length, about 24 inches, extent, 

 34; wing, 9 60-9.75; culmen, 1.80-2.00; tarsus, 1.85-1.90; midde toe. 2.25-2.40. 



* Described from No. 5,783, Briber's Pass, Rocky Mountains, Aug. 13, 1856; W. S. Wood. 

 Distinguishable with certainty from the young of M. serrator by the different position of 

 the nostril. 



