Mergansers 



to our lakes, rivers, and the ocean shore to hunt there until 

 spring. Salt and fresh water are equally enjoyed. 



Feeding appears to be the chief object in life of this glutton- 

 ous bird that often swallows a fish too large to descend entire 

 into the stomach, and must remain in the distended throat until 

 digested piecemeal. Its saw-like bill for holding slippery prey, 

 and rough tongue covered with incurved projections like a cat's, 

 doubtless help speed the process of digestion, which is so rapid 

 as to keep the bird in a constant state of hunger, and drive it to 

 desperate rashness to secure its dinner. It will plunge beneath a 

 rushing torrent after a fish, or dive to great depths to secure it, 

 swimming under water with long and splendidly powerful, dex- 

 terous strokes that soon overtake the fish in its own element. 

 These feats, with the sudden dropping out of sight practiced so 

 artfully by the loons, make a merganser an exceedingly difficult 

 mark for the sportsman to hit; and its muscular, tough, rank 

 flesh offers no reward for his efforts. Usually these birds depend 

 upon the water to escape danger; but when disturbed in a shallow 

 fishing ground, a flock seems to run along the water for a few 

 yards, patting it with their strongly webbed feet, then rising to 

 windward, they head off in straight, strong, and rapid flight, 

 toward distant shelter. 



The adult male in his nuptial dress is a conspicuously beauti- 

 ful fellow, with his dark, glossy green head, rich salmon-col- 

 ored breast, and black and white wings, set off by a black back. 

 But this attire is not worn until maturity, in the second year; and 

 in the intervening time, as well as after the nesting season is over, 

 he looks much like his mate and their young. Birds whose upper 

 parts show the grayish brown that predominates when we see 

 them in winter are called "dun divers" in many sections. It is 

 the male bird in spring plumage that the taxidermist mounts to 

 decorate the walls of dining-rooms and shooting lodges. 



Mergansers build a nest of leaves, grasses, and moss, lined 

 with down from their breasts, in a hole of a tree or cliff, where 

 from six to ten creamy-buff eggs are laid in June, and tended 

 exclusively by the mother, even after they have evolved into 

 fluffy ducklings. At this time the drake is undergoing a thorough 

 moult. 



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