466 HOODED MERGANSER. 



though on one occasion a crippled Hooded Merganser made no effort 

 to submerge itself, but swam low in the water like a wounded Teal, 

 with the crest laid flat ; the head looking small and black, very 

 unlike its usually bushy aspect. 



There is no authenticated instance of the occurrence of the 

 Hooded Merganser on the Continent, or, so far as I can discover, 

 in Greenland, to which it is stated by the authors of ' The Water 

 Birds of North America ' to be an occasional visitor. In winter it 

 visits Mexico, Cuba and the Bermudas, while it is abundant in the 

 Carolinas, which form the southern limit of its breeding-range ; and 

 northward it is found within the limits of forest-growth up to the 

 St. Lawrence on the east, and Alaska on the west. 



As far as our present knowledge goes, the Hooded Merganser 

 invariably makes its nest in the hollows of trees, and lines it with 

 down, which, according to Mr. G. A. Boardman, as quoted in the 

 above-mentioned work, is dark-coloured — not white, as the down of 

 birds which nest in holes usually is. The eggs, from 5-8 in number, 

 are of a pure ivory-white, and of an oval or almost globular form : 

 average measurements 2'i by 17 in. This species feeds on fish; 

 the localities it affects being fresh-water ponds in summer, and deep 

 creeks rather than open water on the sea-coast in winter. 



Adult male : bill black ; irides bright yellow ; head and upper 

 neck black, ornamented with a semi-circular crest in which the 

 posterior half is white edged with black ; back and wing-coverts 

 black ; quills, rump and tail-feathers dark brown ; scapulars and inner 

 secondaries white edged with black, elongated and slender : lower 

 neck in front white, with two black crescentic bands descending 

 from the upper part of the back and directed forwards ; belly, vent 

 and under tail-coverts white ; sides waved with yellowish-brown ; legs 

 and feet dull red. Length about 19 in. ; wing 7*5 in. The female 

 is rather smaller in size, and has an elongated reddish-brown crest ; 

 head, hind neck, back, and wings dark brown ; chin white ; neck in 

 front pale brown, the edges of the feathers lighter in colour ; under 

 parts white ; bill, irides and feet, as in the male. The young re- 

 semble the female for the first year, but during the second the black 

 and white about the head appears in the drakes, and in the third 

 spring their plumage is complete. 



