22 BULLETIN 126, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



sphere, the breeding range inchides Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, Scandi- 

 navia, northern Russia, northern Siberia, and the Kurilc Islands. 



Winter range. — Mainly on the coasts of the United States. On the 

 Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, on the Gulf coast from Florida 

 to Texas. On the Pacific coast from British Columbia to Lower 

 Cahfornia (La Paz). In the interior from the Great Lakes south- 

 ward. In the Eastern Hemisphere it is generally distributed over 

 Europe, the Mediterranean, north Africa, the Black and Caspian Seas, 

 Persia, northwest India, China and Japan. 



Spring migration. — Average dates of arrival: Quebec, Montreal. 

 April IG (earliest April 6); Prince Eward Island, North River, April 

 21 (earliest April 15); Ungava, Lake Mistassini, May 11; Minnesota, 

 Heron Lake, April 3; Manitoba, Aweme, April 22; Alaska, Chilcat, 

 May 8, St. Michael, May 24, and Kowak River, middle of June. 

 Late dates of departure: Missouri, Kansas Cit}'-, May 4; Ohio, Ober- 

 lin. May 22; Pennsjdvania, Erie, May 30; Rhode Island, Newport, 

 May 16; Massachusetts, Essex County, May 20; California, Monterey, 

 May 25. 



Fall migration. — Early dates of arrival: Massachusetts, Essex 

 County, September 23; Pennsylvania, Erie, September G; California, 

 Monterey, October 9. Late dates of departure: Mackenzie River, 

 latitude 63°, October 16: Quebec, Montreal, November 1. 



Casual /vt*o;Y?s.— Accidental in Cuba (tiabana, December, 1891), 

 Bermuda, and Hawaiian Islands. 



Egg (^afp.s'.— Labrador: Fourteen records, June 4 to July 16; seven 

 records, June 26 to July 7. Magdalen Islands: Eleven records, June 

 17 to 26. Alaska: Five records, June 26 to July 9. Iceland: Five 

 records. May 20 to June 23. 



LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS (Linnaeus). 

 HOODED MERGANSER. 



HABITS. 



In the overflowed, heavily wooded bottoms of our great interior 

 rivers, where rising vv-aters have half submerged and killed the forest 

 trees, this prettj^ little timberland duck finds a congenial home among 

 the half-sunken snags, stumps, and dead trees, which offer suitable 

 nesting hollows and where its striking color pattern matches its sur- 

 roundings so well that it is easily overlooked. It is a v,ddely distrib- 

 uted species, found in suitable localities almost anywhere in the 

 wooded portiojis of North America; it breeds more or less regularly 

 throughout this range from Florida and Arkansas northward to 

 northern Canada. Its center of abundance extends from the northern 

 half of the Mississippi Valley into central Canada. The male, with 

 his showy crest and neat color pattern, is one of the handsomest of 



