16 BULLETIN 126, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



and was made of the dry stalks of this grass, scantly arranged under, 

 around, and partially over the eggs; very little down had been added, 

 as the six eggs were perfectly fresh and the set was probably incom- 

 plete. 



The down in the nest of the red-breasted is much darker than 

 that found in the nest of the American merganser; it is "mouse 

 gray " with paler centers and usually pure white breast feathers and 

 more or less rubbish are mixed with it. When the set is complete 

 a thick blanket of down and rubbish is provided in sufficient quantity 

 to entirely conceal the eggs when the bird has time to cover them 

 before leaving the nest. 



Eggs. — This merganser usually lays from 8 to 10 eggs, sometimes 

 as many as 16. The eggs are quite different from those of the Ameri- 

 can merganser. The shape varies from elliptical ovate or elliptical 

 oval to elongate ovate. The shell is smooth but without much luster. 

 The color varies from a rich "olive buff " or "'pale olive buff" to 

 " cartridge buff " ; the olive shades are commoner than the lighter 

 shades. The measurements of 85 eggs in the United States National 

 Museum average 64.5 by 45 millimeters; the eggs showing the four 

 extremes measure 67.5 by 46, 67 by 46.5, 56.5 by 43 and 60.5 by 41 

 millimeters.] 



You??^.— Incubation lasts from 26 to 28 days and is ])erformed 

 entirely by the female; the drakes are rarely seen in the neighborhood 

 during this period. P. L. Hatch (1892), who has found this bird 

 breeding svithin a few miles of both Minneapolis and St. Paul, says: 



Only a very few iudividuals have seen these ducks during the summer, for the 

 obvious reason that, like all otiier locally breeding ducks, tliey are rarely found on 

 the wing. 



The young are active within a few hours of hatching, as has been 

 well described by Jl. M. Strong (1912), and wriggle in a prostrate 

 manner over the ground like a snake. They are soon able to run 

 about on their feet and climb easily to the mother's back. 



The food of the young consists of small fish, water insects and 

 larvae, worms, crustaceans, and sometimes frogs. Both parents are 

 assiduous in caring for the young. The young mergansers are care- 

 fully fed and guarded by their parents, and the family group keeps 

 together until the young are fully grown. At the slightest sign of 

 danger the young conceal themselves under the bushes and among 

 the reeds of the banks of the river or pond, while the adults do their 

 best to entice the intruder away. When suddently disturbed in the 

 open the young are able to make their way over the surface of the 

 water with surprising rapidity by the combined action of the wings 

 and legs. The noise of such a flight often confuses the enemy. On 

 open shores I have known the young to flee from the approaching 



