IJFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 13 



Spring migration. — Early dates of arrival : Ontario, Ottawa, Febru- 

 ary 25; Labrador, Hamilton River, May 28; Minnesota, Heron Lake, 

 March 17; Wisconsin, Milwaukee, March 1. Average dates of arrival: 

 Vermont, St. Johnsbury, March 17; Quebec, Montreal, April 5; 

 Ontario, Ottawa, April 16; Prince Edward Island, April 21; Iowa, 

 Hillsboro, March 28; Minnesota, Heron Lake, March 26; Manitoba, 

 Aweme, April 11. Dates of departure: Maryland, March 29; Penn- 

 sylvania, Erie, April 7; Connecticut, April 17; Rhode Island, New- 

 port, April 25. 



Fall migration. — Average dates of arrival: Massachusetts, October 

 5; Chesapeake Bay^ Octobef 15 (earliest September 29). Average 

 dates of departure: Prince Edward Island, November 1; Quebec, 

 Montreal, November 6; Ontario, Ottawa, November 21 (latest 

 November 26). 



Casual records. — Accidental in the Aleutian Islands (Unalaska, 

 May 26, 1906). 



Egg dates. — Maine and Nova Scotia: Five records. May 22 to June 

 8. Michigan: Six records. May 13 to 30. Manitoba: Four records, 

 June 16 to 19. California and Oregon: Three records, April 2, May 

 21 and June 20. 



MERGUS SERRATOR Linnaeus. 



RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 



HABITS. 



Contributed by Charles Wendell Townscnd. 



The red-breasted merganser, or sheldrake, as it is commonly called 

 in New England, the "bec-scie" or "saw bill" of the Acadians, 

 although often hunted, is generally classed as a fish duck and con- 

 sidered almost worthless. But there are other things in life besides 

 bread and meat and dollars and cents, and the esthetic appreciation of 

 tliis, as well as of many other "worthless" birds, is surely increasing. 



The drake in his newly acquired nuptial plumage is resplendent 

 with a metallic green headdress and waving crest, the whole set off 

 by a long coral-red bill. The white ring about his neck, the reddish 

 brown and speckled breast, the snowy flanks and wing patches, and 

 the dark back all go to create a ])icture of great beauty as he swims 

 or dives or restlessly flies to and fro among the breakers. The 

 females and young in their more modest suits of drab and brown are 

 not to be despised from an esthetic point of view. They, too, like the 

 drakes, are furnished with crests. 



The great multitudes of these birds off the New England coast in 

 winter is a wonderful sight and most satisfying to the bird lover, 

 especially as there seems to be no doubt that the numbers have in- 

 creased of late years. This increase is doubtless due partly to the 

 better enforcement of game laws and to the stoi)ping of spring shoot- 

 ing, but also to the fact that the great island of Aiiticosti in the Gulf 



