160 NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



general color is glossy chestnut, and the lower parts silvery-white ; the 

 chin and sides of the head are dead white, the crown and nape glossy 

 black. The female is brown above, finely dotted and waved with dusky; 

 below paler and duller; crown and nape dark brown ; crissum white. From 

 its peculiar stiff tail feathers I have often heard hunters call it the " Sprig- 

 tail," a name, however, applied to the Pin tail Duck. The nest of the 

 Dipper Duck, as it is also called, is made on the ground, of grasses well 

 matted together. The eggs range from eight to fourteen and are of a 

 grayish-white in color; somewhat elliptical in shape, and measure from 

 2.35 to 2.50 long by 1. 70 to 1.75 broad. 



636. American Sheldrake — mergus merganser americanus. The 

 Sheldrake, Goosander or Merganser, as it is variously called, is a common 

 bird throughout North America, breeding from the Northern States north- 

 ward. It winters in the south. Is very abundant on fresh as well as 

 salt waters in spring and fall. The three species of Sheldrakes with the 

 "saw-bill" are commonly called "Fish Ducks." Their flesh is rank and 

 unpalatable. The male may be recognized by his large size, white breast 

 and green gloss on the head and neck, the latter scarcely crested: the 

 female, which is much smaller than the male, has a deep red head and 

 neck, with the crest better developed; under parts salmon-tinted. The 

 nest is made in hollow trees, after the manner of the Wood Duck, and is 

 composed of moss, leaves and grasses, warmly lined with down from the 

 bird. The eggs are six or eight and sometimes ten in number; of yellowish 

 or buff color, and measure from 2.50 to 2.80 by 1.70 to 1.80. 



637. Red-breasted Sheldrake — mergus serrator. The Red-breasted 

 Merganser inhabits North America at large, and is a more abundant bird 

 than the Goosander. It is very common in the United States in winter, 

 and it breeds in suitable places as well as further north. In many places 

 in the interior it appears to be the rarest of the three species. This is 

 the case in Ohio. Unlike the other two Mergansers, this one makes its 

 nest on the ground amongst tall grass. It is composed of dry leaves, moss 

 and grass, lined with down and feathers. The number of eggs in a set 

 varies from six to twelve, usually about nine or ten ; oval or elliptical in 

 shape, and vary in size from 2.48 to 2.65 long by 1.65 to 1.82 broad. 

 The color is a yellowish or reddish-drab, sometimes a dull buffy-green. 



Hab. Northern portions of Northern Hemisphere; south in winter through the United States. 



638. Hooded Sheldrake — lophodytes cucullatus. Delicate pearly- 

 white; spherical; six to ten or fourteen in number, and average about 

 2.13 by 1.75. This handsome Merganser is distributed throughout North 



