MERGANSERS 77 



black bar ; breast and belly white, tinted with salmon ; rump and tail ashy 

 gray ; back black. Plumage of adult female and of immature birds : chin 

 and adjoining throat white ; top of head and lower throat reddish brown ; 

 back and tail ashy gray ; breast and belly white. Wing 10.50 to 11.50 in 

 male, 9.50 to 10.00 in female ; culmen 2.00 ; bill from nostril to end 1.50 or 

 less ; tarsus 1.90. 



Geog. Dist. — North America, breeding from Maine and Minnesota north- 

 ward, also in mountains of Colorado and California ; wintering from Kansas, 

 Illinois and Maine southward to South Carolina. 



County Records. — Androscoggin ; common migrant, a few found in open 

 places on the rivers all winter, (Johnson). Aroostook; breeds in the Fish 

 and Woolastook Valleys, (Knight). Cumberland ; a few nest annually about 

 Sebago Lake and I have seen eggs from there, (Knight) ; common, (Brook). 

 Franklin; common summer resident, (Richards). Hancock; not rare along 

 the coast in winter; a few breed about the larger ponds and lakes, (Knight). 

 Kennebec; rare, (Dill). Knox; winter resident, (Rackliff). Oxford; com- 

 mon migrant, (Johnson). Penobscot; quite rare migrant now, a few nest 

 on the various isolated ponds, lakes and streams, (Knight). Piscataquis ; 

 common, breeds, (Homer). Sagadahoc; quite plenty from fall to spring, 

 (Spinney). Somerset ; not very common, apparently only migrant, (Morrell); 

 breeds in northern section of county, (Knight). Waldo; winter resident 

 along the coast, very rarely breeds on the streams, (Knight). Washington; 

 not rare, breeds, (Boardman). York ; rare migrant, (Adams). 



Rather generally found along the coast from fall to spring, 

 while it appears on the inland lakes and streams as soon as the 

 ice breaks up in spring, remaining in isolated localities within 

 Canadian faunal limits to breed. The nest is built in some 

 hollow stub which is near to or overhanging the water. A 

 nest with nine eggs was found in a hole in a stub about five 

 feet from the surface of the water on the Songo River in late 

 May 1899. The hole in the stub was about two feet deep and 

 was warmly lined with down on which the eggs were laid. 

 These eggs are creamy buff, semi glossy, and measure 2.67 x 

 1.86, 2.67 X 1.82, 2.63 x 1.84, 2.60 x 1.81, 2.69 x 1.85, 2.65 

 X 1.69 The incubation period is not far from 22 days and soon 

 after hatching the young birds take to the water, either dropping 

 into it themselves or being carried by their parents where the 

 nest is too far from the water. 



About the lakes and streams small family groups of six to 

 twelve young may be seen with the female in late June or July. 



