Descriptive List 59 



This, the smallest of the North American Mergansers, is an exceedingly striking 

 bird. The fan-shaped crest of finely pointed feathers has given rise to the name 

 "Hairyhead," by which it is widely known. In the male this crest is white with 

 a black outer border, thus furnishing a conspicuous mark for identification even 

 at a distance. Although known to breed occasionally in the South, its nest is seldom 

 met with in eastern North America below New York and Indiana. In the autumn 

 they may be found in pairs or small flocks on the lakes and millponds. In Curri- 

 tuck Sound they gather each year in considerable numbers, as well as in the bays 

 and river mouths farther south, seeming to shun at all times the open sounds. 

 Unlike our other mergansers, they apparently care but httle for swift-running 

 streams. Their food consists to some extent of seeds and roots, and at times their 

 flesh is very palatable. Specimens were taken at New Bern, January 8, 1885; 

 Raleigh, November 24, 1888, and January 31, 1908 (H. H. Brimley); Guilford 

 County, April 8, 1892 (Pearson); and Dare County, December 19, 1908 (Bishop). 



In December, 1910, Sherman and H. H. Brimley saw several small bunches, 

 aggregating from fifty to a hundred individuals, on White Lake in Bladen County. 

 These flocks were in evidence daily for a week, and the birds stooled — not very 

 readily, however — to Black Duck decoys. Several specimens were secured. 



In November and December, 1911, this species was constantly seen on Lake Ellis, 

 and bunches of one or two dozen birds were often noticed. In fact, this was the 

 most plentiful duck on the lake, next to Mallard and Black Duck. 



In January, 1911, H. H. Brimley observed five on Lake Ellis, feeding by diving 

 in water not more than ten inches in depth. Frequently three out of the five were 

 under water at the same time. He paddled up to within thirty yards of them 

 before they took flight. 



Genus Anas (Linn.) 



KEY TO SPECIES 



1. Speculum edged with white, sexes unlike. Mallard. 



1. Speculum without wliite, sexes very similar. Black Duck. 



42. Anas platyrhynchos (Linn.). Mallard. 



Ad. cf. — Whole head and throat glossy greenish or bluish black; a white ring around the 

 neck; breast rich chestnut; belly grayish white, finely marked with wavy black lines; under 

 tail-coverts black; upper back dark grayish brown; rump and upper tail-coverts black; four 

 middle tail-feathers recurved; speculum rich purple, bordered at the base and tip by narrow 

 bands of black and white. Ad. 9. — Top and sides of head streaked with fuscous and buffy; 

 back fuscous, the feathers with internal rings or loops and sometimes borders of pale ochraceous 

 buffy; speculum as in the preceding; breast and bellv ochraceous buffy, mottled with dusky 

 grayish b.own. L., 23.00; W., 11.00; Tar., 1.7.5; B., 2.2.5. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. — Whole of Northern Hemisphere, breeding from the northern half of the United 

 States northward. 



Range in North Carolina. — Whole State in winter. 



The most widely known duck of the Northern Hemisphere is the Mallard. 

 Wherever grassy lakes, millponds, or sluggish streams occur, it is likely to be 

 found. Breeding usually in the North, that great nursery of wildfowl. Mallards 

 reach the South upon the approach of winter and afford excellent shooting. In 

 the brackish water marshes and in the rice-field country of the Carolinas they 



