88 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



■with rusty) in adult; tail-coverts and crissum fjrayi.sli, barred 



with dusky and whitish Philacte. (Page 118.) 



a}. Neck as long as or longer than body. (Subfamily Cygnina'.) 



Lhrgcst of American ylna^iV/a' (length more than three feet) ; color entire!}- 

 jjure white, with black bill and feet, in adult, graj'ish in j-oung. 



Olor. (Page 120.) 



Genus MERGANSER Buisson. (Pago 84, pi. XXI., fig. 4.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Adult male with head and upper neck greenish black, 

 the occiput crested ; rump, upper tail-covorts, and tail, plain ash-gray ; rest of upper 

 parts mainl}' pied black and whitish ; lower parts rich creamy white or pale salmon- 

 color. Adult female, with head and upper neck cinnamon-brownish (occiput crested, 

 as in the male), chin and part of throat white ; upper parts grayish, with some 

 white on wings; lower parts buffy white. 



a'. Distance between nostril and nearest feathering at base of upper mandilile much 

 greater than height of upper mandible at base ; feathering at base of upper 

 mandible, on sides, projecting very slightly forward, and not forming a 

 distinct angle. 

 J'. No visible black bar across white of wing-covcrts. Adult male : Head and 

 upper neck greenish black, the top of the latter with a soft "bushy" 

 crest, conspicuous only when erected ; chest and other lower parts rich 

 creamy white, or (especially in freshly-killed specimens) delicate pale 

 salmon-color; wing 10.70-11.00, culmen 2.05-2.30, tar.sus 1.90-2.00, 

 middle toe 2.35-2.60. Adult female : Head and upper neck tawny brown 

 or cinnamon, the chin and throat whitish, the occiput with a conspicuous 

 pointed crest; upper parts chiefly ash-gra}'. with white on secondaries 

 and greater wing-coverts; wing 9.75-10.25, culmen 1.80-1.90, tarsus 

 1.65-1.80, middle too 2.35. Ifah. Northern parts of the eastern hemi- 

 sphere, from western Europe to Kamtschatka. 



M. merganser Livx. Merganser.' 

 6'. A vcrj' conspicuous Ijlack bar across white of wing-coverts. (Plumage 

 not otherwise essentially different from that of M. merganser, but feath- 

 ering at base of bill having a quite distinct outline.) Downy young : 

 Upper half of head, and hind-neck, rusty brown, more reddish on the 

 latter, where encroaching on sides of neck; remaining upper parts hair- 

 brown, relieved by four white spots ; lower parts, including rest of head 

 and neck, white ; a stripe on lower half of lores, white ; beneath this, a 

 narrower stripe of deep brown, and a similar, but bi'oader, brown stripe 

 on upper half of lores. Afnle ; Length 25.00-27.00, wing 10.50-11.25, 

 culmen 1.90-2.20, tarsus 1.90-2.00, middle too 2.40-2.50. Female : Length 



' ilergfu mcrgantcr Ll!»;«., S. N. ed. 10, i. 175S, 129. Mcrgantcr mcrgantcr Stejn., Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. 

 No. 29, 1885, 176. 



