GENERAL ACCOUNTS OF THE GAME BIRDS OF 

 CALIFORNIA 



American Merganser 

 Mergus americanus Cassin 



Other names — Fish Duck, part ; Sawbill, part ; Goosander ; Sheldrake ; Mergus 

 merganser americanus ; Merganser americanus. 



Description — Adult male: A single short crest on top and back of head; 

 head and crest metallic greenish black; chin and throat dull black; bill red, ridge 

 and tip black and provided with backward-projecting, sharp-pointed, tooth-like 

 serrations on opposed surfaces of the two mandibles; nostrils nearer middle of 

 bill than base (figs. 5 and 6); iris carmine; back black; rump, upper tail coverts 

 and tail ashy gray; outer surface of closed wing mostly white, crossed by a 

 single bar of black; flight feathers dull brownish black; speculum white; 

 axillars and lining of wing white; hind neck, and whole lower surface of body, 

 including sides, creamy white to salmon buff; feet deep red. Total length 

 "25.00-27.00" inches (635-685 mm.) (Ridgway, 1900, p. 88); folded wing 10.15- 

 10.75 (258-273); bill along culmen 2.06-2.28 (52.4-58.0); tarsus 1.86-2.09 (47.3- 

 53.2) (six specimens). Adult female: Slender feathers of head crest longer 

 than in male; whole head reddish brown except for chin and throat which are 

 white; upper surface of body ashy gray; outer surface of closed wing chiefly 

 gray like back; speculum white, outlined with sooty brown and crossed by a 

 single bar of dusky; flight feathers blackish brown; axillars and lining of 

 wing white; under surface of body creamy white to salmon buff; hind neck, 

 sides, and upper breast indistinctly barred with gray and white; iris and feet 

 red as in male, but paler. Total length "21.00-24.00" inches (533-609 mm.) 

 (Ridgway, 1900, p. 89) ; folded wing 9.22-10.12 (234-257) ; bill along culmen 1.74- 

 2.08 (44.3-53.0) ; tarsus 1.80-1.95 (45.7-49.5) (five specimens) ; all from Pacific 

 Coast, California to Alaska. Juvenile phimage of male: Similar to that of 

 adult female. Natal plumage: Whole top of head reddish brown; stripe from 

 base of bill to below eye, white; beneath this a deep brown stripe from angle 

 of mouth, joining head-color behind eye; this stripe contrasts markedly with the 

 white of chin and throat; the reddish brown of head and hind neck fades into 

 cinnamon where it meets white of throat; upper parts clove brown relieved by 

 four white spots, one at hind border of each wing and one on each side of rump; 

 whole lower surface white. 



Marks for field identification — The slender, cylindrical, "toothed" bill, 

 with its sharp-edged and hooked tip, distinguishes mergansers from all other 

 ducks. At a distance male mergansers appear black and white and both sexes 

 show white on the wing when in flight. American Merganser is distinguished 

 from Red-breasted by somewhat larger size, a head crest with but one point, 

 by lack of reddish brown collar on breast (of male), and (in hand) by the 

 nostril being nearer middle than base of bill (see figs. 5 to 8). 



Voice — Of female: a coarse masculine "quack" (Law, 1912&, p. 42). 



Nest — Usually in hollow trees along wooded streams, less frequently on the 

 ground; made of twigs, grass, lichens, etc., lined with down. 



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