LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 21 



It would seem, therefore, that some of the drakes go south to 

 escort their partners back to the breeding home. 



On the New England coast in winter this bird is to be found in 

 largest numbers off the beaches and in the coves and harbors. It 

 frequents also the tidal estuaries among the salt marshes into which 

 it enters at dawn and from which it flies at sunset in order to sleep 

 with more safety on the ocean ; in this respect its habits are the oppo- 

 site of those of the black duck. It is evident that the merganser is 

 not as common of late years in tidal estuaries, as it is more apt to be 

 disturbed by gunners and motor boats. It occasionally visits the 

 fresh-water ponds and rivers duriag the migrations along the sea 

 coast, but does not prefer them to salt water, as does its cousin the 

 goosander. Its habits during the winter have been described above. 

 Courting takes place all along the New England coast even that part 

 far from the breeding range, and begins in good weather as early 

 as February. 



The long neck, head, and bill of the sheldrake, its flat bod}'^, and 

 conspicuous white-marked wing makes its recognition in the air usu- 

 ally an easy one. The adult drake is easily distinguished by its red- 

 dish breast and by its crest from the goosander ; the females and 

 young can often be distinguished, even at a distance, from the very 

 similar females and young of the goosander by the more clearly 

 defined white throat of the latter bird. In the red-breasted species (he 

 white is less in extent and shades gradually into the brown of the neck. 

 This is an important field mark and is often overlooked, for most 

 authorities write that the female and young of these two species can 

 only be distinguished in the hand by the position of the nostril, 

 which is in the middle of the bill in the case of the goosander and 

 nearer the base in the red-breasted species. The back of the female 

 goosander is of pearl-blue color while that of the red-breasted species 

 is dark ashy with a brownish tinge. These differences are also 

 noticeable in the field. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range.— Northern portions of the Northern Hemisphere. 

 In North America, south to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia (Kings 

 County), New Brunswick (Grand Manan), coast of Maine (Jericho 

 Bay), northern New York (Adirondacks), southern Ontario (Parry 

 Sound), central Michigan and Wisconsin (Green Ba}')? central Min- 

 nesota (near St. Paul), southern Manitoba (Lake Manitoba), central 

 Alberta (Buffalo Lake), southeastern British Columbia (Columbia 

 River), southern Alaska (Chichagof Island), and the Aleutian Islands. 

 North to the Arctic coast of Alaska (Icy Cape), Mackenzie (Fort 

 Anderson), southern Baffin Land (Cumberland Sound) and central 

 Greenland (Upernivik and Scoresby Sound). In the Eastern Ilcmi- 



