KED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 65 



Hab. — North America generally, breeding south to the northern United 

 States. 



Nest, in a hollow tree. It is composed of weeds and moss, and lined with 

 down from the breast of the Ijird. 



Eggs, six to eight, bull' or dark cream. 



This is the largest, and by many considered the handsomest, of 

 the three saw^-bills which visit us. It is never plentiful, being a bird 

 of the sea coast, but it is usually seen singly, or in pairs, among the 

 flocks of water-fowl which crowd up from the south as soon as the ice 

 begins to move in the lakes and rivers in spring. 



In the fall they are again observed in company with their young, 

 which at this stage all resemble the female in plumage. The flesh of 

 the saw-bills being fishy, the gunners often allow them to pass when 

 a blue-bill or a red-head would not get off" so easily. 



They are reported from Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and other 

 points in Southern Ontario. In the " Birds of Manitoba," Macoun 

 says of them : " Breeds here abundantly on the rivers emptying 

 into Lake Winnipegosis, and on all the rivers visited by me in 

 Manitoba. I never observed this bird on still water during the 

 breeding season. They feed only on fish, and are found only on clear 

 running streams where fry are abundant." 



They are generally but not equally distributed, being more common 

 at some points than others. They are among the first to arrive when 

 the ice breaks up, and indeed Dr. Macallum mentions that so long 

 as there is open water in the Grand River they will remain all 

 winter-. 



MERGANSER SERRATOR (Linn.). 

 35. Red-breasted Merganser. (130) 



Nostrils, sub-basal ; frontal feathers not reaching beyond those on sides of 

 bill ; a long, thin, pointed crest in both sexes. Smaller than the last ; wing, 

 8-9 ; general coloration, sexual difference the same, but the male with the 

 jugulum rich reddish-brown, black-streaked, the sides conspicuously finely 

 waved with black, a white, black-bordered mark in front of the wing, and the 

 wing crossed by two black bars. 



Hab. — Northern portions of northern hemisphere; south in winter, through- 

 out the United States. 



Nest, among the weeds, built of grass, and warndy lined with down. 



Eggs, nine or ten, creamy l)ufl'. 

 5 



