948 SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. —LAMELLIROSTRES — ANSERES. 



MERGAN'SEK. (Lat. mergus, a diver, and anser, a goose.) MerCxAnsers. FiSHiNa 

 Ducks. Saw-bills. Characters as given in the above analysis. We have two perfectly 

 distinct species, one of them closely related to, the other identical with, the corresponding birds 

 of Europe. (Mergus of former editions ot the Key; but Merganser Briss. 1760, antedates 

 Mergus as restricted to M. albellus by Leach in 1816.) 



M. america'nus. American Merganser. American Goosander. American Shel- 

 drake. Buff-breasted Merganser or Sheldrake (with many other qualifying terms 

 of " Sheldrake," mostly shared by the next species). Fishing Duck. Saw-bill. Spar- 

 ling Fowl. Dun Diver (9). Morocco-head (? ). Velvet-breast. Breakhorn 

 or Bracket. Weaser or Tweezer (rmmbiiU). Nostrils near middle of bill. Frontal 

 feathers extending acutely on culmeu about half-way from those on side of bill to nostrils ; loral 



feathers sweeping in nearly 

 vertical line across side of 

 base of upper mandible, 

 ibout opposite those on 

 ^id( of lower mandible. 

 Htad scarcely crested — 

 merely a line of little 

 U ngthened feathers along 

 occiput and nape — better 

 d< \ eloped in 9 than in ^ . 

 Tail 18-feathered. Adult 

 (J Bill and feet vermilion- 

 H d in breeding season, with 

 bl uik hook of the bill, and 

 tlie culinen more or less 

 bl uikened ; iris carmine. 

 Ile.id and upper part of 

 neck splendid dark green 

 like a Mallard's. Under 

 puts white, more or less 

 '^ ilmon-colored, the flanks 

 and lower belly marbled or 

 watered with dusky, the 

 white extending all around 

 the lower neck. Upper 

 parts glossy black, fading to ashy-gray on rump and tail; surface of wing mostly pure white, 

 crossed by a black bar formed by bases of greater coverts. Primaries and outer secondaries 

 black, intermediate secondaries white, inner secondaries and scapulars black and white. 9 • 

 Bill red with dusky culmen ; iris yellowish ; feet chrome or orange with duslcy webs ; crest 

 better developed than in ^ — still flimsy, however long. Head and neck reddish-brown ; 

 throat white ; under parts white, less salmon-tinted than in ^. Black parts of ^ ashy-gray j 

 scapulars without white ; white of wing restricted to some of the secondaries and greater coverts, 

 which are black at base ; smaller coverts ashy. Length 23.50-27.00; extent 34.00 or more ; 

 wing 10.00-1 LOO; tail 5.00; bill 2.00 along culmen, 3.00 along gape; tarsus 1.75-1.95 ; middle 

 toe and claw 2.75; 9 niuch smaller than ^, at the lesser or below the single dimensions here 

 given. Downy young: Brown above, with four white spots; the head more rusty-brown, 

 with a white loral stripe between two dark brown ones; under parts white. North America 

 at large, common on inland fresh waters as well as coastwise ; U. S. in winter, and breeding 

 from northern borders northward, and in mountains of Middle States, Colorado, California, etc. 



Fig. GGG. — European Merganser, (f , I nat. size. (Prom Brehm.) 



