116 



LAMELLIIiOSTRAL SWIMMERS - ANSERES. 



Mergus serrator. 



THE BED-BREASTED SHELDRAKE. 



Mergus serrator, Linn. S. N. ed. 10, I. 1758, 129; ed. 12, I. 1766, 208. — Wils. Am. Orn. VIII. 



1814, 81, pi. 69. — S\v. & Rich. V. li. A. II. 1831, 462. - NuTT. Man. II. 1834, 463. — Aud. 

 Orn. Biog. V. 1S39, 92, pi. 101 : Synop. 1S39, 298; B. Am. VI. 1843, '395, pi. 412. — Baird, 

 B. N. Am. 185S, 814 ; Cat X. Am. B. 1859, no. 612. —Codes, Key, 1872, 296 ; Chock List, 

 1873, no. 522 ; 2d cd. 1SS2, no. 744 ; B. N. W. 1S74, 584. — Kidgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, 

 no. 637. 



Mergus cristatus, Brunn. Orn. Bor. 1764, 23. 



Mergus niger, Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 546. 



Mergus leucomelas, Gmel. torn. fit. 



Hab. Northern portion of noil hern hemisphere; in America migrating south, in winter, 

 throughout the United States. No extralimital record. 



Sp. Char. Adult male: Head dull greenish black, duller and more brownish on the forehead 

 and throat, the crest faintly glossed with purplish ; neck and sides of the jugulum pale fawn-color or 



dull buff, indistinctly streaked with black, the streaks being on the edges of the feathers; a white 

 collar round upper part of the neck, just below the black. Lower parts pure creamy white, the 



sides and flanks undulated with 

 narrow zigzag bars of black. Back 

 ,- ' ~ _ _. and scapulars uniform black ; 



' shoulders overhung by a tuft of 



.#"V -. broad feathers, broadly margined 



with black, the central space be- 

 ing while. Anterior and outer 

 lesser wing- coverts dark slate-gray. 

 darker centrally ; posterior lesser 

 coverts and middle coverts wholly 

 white ; greater coverts with the 

 terminal half white, the basal half 

 black, partly exposed, thus forming 

 a narrow band or liar across the 

 wing ; two inner tertials wholly 

 black, the rest white, edged with 

 black ; inner secondaries entirely 

 white ; outer secondaries, primary- 

 coverts, and primaries black. Hump and upper tail-coverts dark ash-gray, with black shafts 



