AYES. 383 



Mergus L. Bill subulate, hooked at the tip, with margins 

 denticulato-seiTate. Hallux enlarged bj a lateral membrane. 



Saw-hills, Divers. — These birds swim rapidly and dive often under water ; 

 they fly also very well, but walk with difiiculty and with a waddling gait. 

 They feed chiefly on fish. A genus not very numerous, of which most of 

 the species live in the high north and in winter visit temperate regions as 

 birds of passage. 



Sp. Mergus merganser L., Buff. PI. enl. 951, Naum. Taf. 326, the great 

 saw-hill, goosander, le harle, der grosse Sdger; — Mergus serrator L., Buff. 

 PI. enl. 207, Less. Ornith. PI. 118, fig. 2. In these two species the bill 

 and legs are red ; they are lead-coloured, and the bill much shorter in a 

 small species which is a rarer visitor on the Dutch coast, Mergus albellus 

 L., Buff. PI. enl. 449, 450, Naum. Taf. 324, tJie smew, het nonnetje, la 

 piette, die weisse Nonne, der Jcleine Sdger, (From this species Selby has 

 formed the sub-genus Mergellus.) 



Fulix SuNDEV., Hydrobates Temm. Bill with margins lamelloso- 

 dentate internally. Hallux furnished with a lax rudiment of mem- 

 brane. Tarsi short, scutellate anteriorly, posteriorly and at the 

 sides reticulate with hexagonal scales. 



Note. — Here belong many sub-genera, on which compare Gray Genera 

 of Birds, pp. 620 — 625. Also on this and the following genera may be 

 compared T. C. Eyton, A Monograph of the Anatidce or Dmk-trihe. 

 London, 1838, 4to. 



Sub-genus: Merganetta Gould, Gray, Raphisterus Gay. Bill 

 short, conical. Wings spurred. Tail longer, rounded. 



Sp. Fidix merganetta, Merganetta armata Gould, Gray Gener. PI. clxx. 

 Merganetta chilensis Desmurs, PI. peintes 5, 48; this small and pretty 

 species from Chili (between 34° and 35° S. L.) is referred by Gould and 

 Gray to the division of the Mergi, yet it seems to us that it might with 

 as much right be regarded as a sub-genus of the ducks. 



Erismatui'a Bonap. 

 Biziura Leach. 

 Sp. Fulix lohata, Anas lohata Lath., Temm. PI. col. 406 ; New Holland. 



Oidemia Flem. 



Sp. Fulix fusca, Anas fiisca L., Buff. PI. enl. 956, Naum. Taf. 313; the 

 great sea-duck, velvet scoter; — FiUix nigra, Anas nigra L., Buff. PI. enl. 

 972, Naum. Taf. 312, the hlack scoter, 



Somaferia Leach. 



Sp. Fulix mollissima, Anas mollissima L. Buff. PI. enl. 209 male, 208 fem., 

 GUBRIN Iconogr., Ois. PI. 67, fig. i ; the eider-duck. The base of the bill 



