84 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFOBNIA 



This bird is usuall}' considered poor i'ooil, as it is pronounced 

 tough, and at most seasons, has an unpleasant fishy taste. When 

 properly prepared, however, its "gamy" flavor can be appreciated 

 with the aid of a hearty appetite. But the skill needed to bring it to 

 bag, therefore forms its chief claim to being classed as a game bird. 



American Mergansers have been occasionally seen on the market 

 in San Francisco and Sacramento along with other ducks, and hunters 

 are sometimes seen carrying them. No information regarding their 

 comparative numbers now and formerly has been obtainable. But 

 as the hunter often passes them by, and as they are wary and difficult 

 to shoot, it seems probable that there has been no marked decrease in 

 their numbers. 



Red-breasted Merganser 



Mergiis serrator (Linnaeus) 



Other names — Fish Duck, part; Sawbill, part; Eed-breasted Sheldrake; 

 Merganser serrator. 



Description — Adult male: Head with much elongated, double-pointed crest 

 of very slender feathers; whole head black, dully so on throat and crown, but 

 with strong metallic green wash on sides of head behind eye; a conspicuous 

 white collar completely encircling neck save for black stripe down hind neck, 

 connecting black of head with that of back; bill red, dusky along top, and 

 with tooth-like serrations, sharp pointed, backward projecting and claw-like; 

 iris red; whole back together with flight feathers black; rump, upper tail 

 coverts and tail feathers brownish gray; rump varied with finely broken narrow 

 black bars; outer surface of closed wing white, crossed diagonally by two black 

 bars, and with white feathers of hinder portion of speculum outwardly edged 

 with black; a tuft of broad feathers on sides of breast overhanging bend of 

 closed wing, these feathers being white with wide black borders; sides other- 

 wise finely and irregularly barred with black and white; under surface white 

 except for broad band across chest separated from black of head by white 

 collar; this band is reddish brown mottled with black; feet red; nostril 

 relatively small, located near base of bill (see figs 7 and 8). There is in the 

 adult male in midsummer a brief -lived ' ' eclipse ' ' plumage in which the head 

 becomes dull brown and the breast dull gray (Stone, 1900, pp. 15-16). The 

 total length (both sexes): "20.00-25.00" inches (507-635 mm.) (Ridgway, 1900, 

 p. 89). Males: folded wing 8.75-9.55 (222-242); bill along culmen 2.1.3-2.32 

 (54-59); tarsus 1.73-1.81 (44-46) (nine specimens from California). Adult 

 female: Sides of head and neck cinnamon brown, grading into whitish on chin 

 and throat, and into dark brown on top of head and crest; bill and iris red 

 (Eaton, 1910, p. 179); whole upper surface including rump and tail ashy brown, 

 the feathers having darker centers; flight feathers dull black; closed wing 

 gray like back; speculum white, crossed by one diagonal bar; lower surface 

 white, the brown of head fading gradually over the fore neck through a faintly 

 mottled area; sides and flanks dull grayish brown; feet dull red. Folded wing 

 8.25-8.80 inches (209-224 mm.); bill along culmen 1.9.3-2.13 (49-.54) ; tarsus 

 1.62-1.69 (41-43) (four specimens from California). Juvenile phimaqe of male: 

 Similar to that of adult female but tuft of black-and-white-marked plumes in 



