LIFE inSTORlES OF XORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 27 



December of this, their second, winter they begin to assume a plumage 

 resembhng that of the adult: the molt begins with the a])j)earance of 

 black feathers and white feathers in the head, spreading downward to 

 the breast, flanks, and scapulars until bj' March or April a nearly adult 

 plumage is assumed. In this plumage the coloi-s are all duller than 

 in old males; the crown, back, and rump are browner; the gray lesser 

 wing-coverts are acquired, but the wings are otherwise immature. 

 A partial ecli])se plumage is assumed during the next summer, when 

 the bird is 2 years old and late in the fall, November or December, 

 the fully adult plumage is acquired. Young females can be dis- 

 tinguished from adults during the first year by their undeveloped 

 crests and their duller and browner coloring everywhere; they ])ec()me 

 indistinguishable from the adults during the second winter. 



Adult males have a semi-eclipse plumage in summer, in which the 

 head and neck become largely mottled with brownish and the breast 

 and flanks lose their brilliant colors and resemble those of the female. 

 The double molt is probably not complete, though the whole })lumage 

 is changed at least once. The full plumage is assumed early in the 

 fall, much earlier than in young birds, and is usually complete in 

 October. 



Food. — The hooded merganser lives and feeds almost exclusively on 

 and in fresh water; I believe that some of its food is obtained on the 

 surface, but it is an expert diver and finds much of its food on muddy 

 or on stony bottoms. Its food is mostly animal, and consists largely of 

 insects. Like othc]- mergansers, it is expert at chasing and catching 

 small fish, which [)robably constitute its chief supply; in muddy pools 

 it finds frogs and tadj^oles and snails, and other mullusks; on clear 

 stony bottoms it obtains crawfish, caddis fly larvae, and dragon-fly 

 nymphs; sand eels, small crustaceans, beetles, and various aquatic 

 insects are also eateiL It is also known to eat some vegetable food, 

 the roots of aquatic ])]ants, seeds, and graiiL Dr. F. Henry Yorke 

 (1899) recognized among its vegetable food the following genera of 

 water plants: Liniitohiuiii, My no pi ly Hunt, ('allit)'iche, and Vtvicvlaria . 



Behavior.-— T)i'. D. G. Klliot (1898; writes of the fligh( of this species: 



Oil the win;.^ it is one of the Hwil'lest ducks that; (ly, and it hurls itseh" through the 

 air with almost the velocity of a bullet. Generally it proceeds iu a direct liue; but 

 if it is alarmed at any object suddenly appearing before it, the course is changed with 

 the swiftness of thought, and a detour made before again taking the first line of pro- 

 gression. Sometimes, without apparent reason, the course will be altered, and away 

 it shoots at right angles to the first route; and again, it vacillates as though uncertain 

 which way to take, or as if it was looking for a good feeding place. Usually five or 

 six, but more frequently a pair, are seen flying togethc-r, and often, on dull days when 

 the lookout in a blind is somewhat relaxed, and the sportsman is consoling himself 

 for lack of birds with pos.sibly a nap or the lunch ba.sket, the first intimation of the 

 presence of a hairy crown is given by one or more flashing close overhead with a 

 startling whirr, and iIumi as rapidly disappearing in the distance. It rcciuircs a ?leady 



