SMEW 



277 



NATATORES. 



AN ATI DM. 





THE SMEW. 



Mergus albellus. Smew Merganser, 

 ,, ,, The Smeio, 



Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 216. 

 Mont. Ornith. Diet. 

 ,, ,, Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 276,male. 



,, Lough Diver, ,, ,, ,, ,, 278, female. 



White-headed Goosaiider, Flem. Brit. An. p. 129. 

 Smew, or White Nim, Selby, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. .385. 

 The Smew, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 250. 



,, ,, Gould, Birds of Europe, pt. i. 



Harle Piette, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. vol. ii. p. 887. 



Mergus. Generic Characters. — Bill about as long, or longer than the 

 head, straight, slender, rather pointed, the base large, forming an elongated 

 and almost a cylindrical cone ; point of the upper mandible curved, and, with 

 the horny nail, forming a hook ; edges of both mandibles furnished with saw- 

 like teeth, the points directed backwards. Nostrils lateral, about the middle 

 of the beak, longitudinally elliptic. Legs short, placed rather backward ; three 

 toes in front webbed, hind toe with a pendant lobe or membrane. Wings 

 moderate, the first and second quill-feathers nearly equal in length. 



