IV ANATIDAE i as 
in Swans, and occasionally brown, blackish, or greenish else- 
where. 
Sub-fam. 1. JMJerginae-—The commonest British species is J7 
serrator, the Red-breasted Merganser, which breeds plentifully 
in the Scotch Highlands and Iveland, and ranges over the northern 
parts of the globe, extending in winter from the Mediterranean to 
China, Japan, and the Bermudas. The head is glossy green-black 
with a long hairy crest, the neck is white with a black nuchal line, 
the upper parts are chiefly black, the large white wing-patch 
is crossed by two black bars, while white feathers edged with 
black adorn the sides of the breast, which is rufous with black 
streaks, and becomes reddish-white towards the abdomen. The 
female is brown, with reddish head and nearly white under 
surface. The bill and feet are red in this species and the next. JL 
merganser, the Goosander, nests sparingly in North Scotland, and 
has a similar range to the above abroad, though less abundant; 
it has a green-black head with little crest, a black back, almost 
white wings, and pinkish-white lower neck and under parts. 
The female has a blue-grey back, and lacks the wing-bars of the 
hen Merganser. The American species, with a black alar 
band, is separated as JZ americanus, and the Central Asiatic 
form as JL comatus; M. australis, of the Auckland Islands, has 
a brown head and neck with long crest, a dark grey body with 
white bands below, a white speculum, and red-brown bill and 
feet; MW. brasilianus, of Brazil, is black above with two bars on 
the white speculum, and white below barred with black, the bill 
and feet being greenish-black. The female has the crown and 
long occipital feathers brown. JL albellus, the Smew, ranging 
from Lapland eastward to Bering Island, but not to North America, 
and found in winter from Britain and the Mediterranean to 
North India, China, and Japan, is mainly white, with blackish 
cheeks, occiput, back, remiges, rectrices, and two crescentic bands 
on each side of the breast, the bill and feet being lead-coloured. 
The female has a red-brown head and nape, brownish-grey upper 
parts, and a smaller crest than the male. Lophodytes cucullatus, 
the Hooded Merganser of North America, which has strayed to 
Greenland and Britain, has black upper and white under parts ; 
the dense compressed crest has the posterior part white in the 
middle, the white speculum shows a pair of black bars, two black 
crescents mark each side of the breast, the long inner secondaries 
