8 



Birds of Pennsylvania. 



Altlioiigh I have only observed this<plck as a winter visitant in Penn- 

 sylvania, I am inclined to think it may be found in this State as an 

 occasional breeder. The Messrs. Baird record this Merganser as a 

 native in Perry county. Mr. William liambo, of West Chester, has 

 in his collection a pair of adult birds which were taken two years ago, 

 in midsummer, in Union county, Pennsylvania. "The Hooded Mer- 

 gansers that remain with us nestle in the same kind of holes or hol- 

 lows as the Wood Duck ; at least I have found their nests in such sit- 

 uations seven or eight times, although 1 never saw one of them alight 

 on the branch of a tree, as the birds just mentioned are wont to do. 

 They dive as it were directly into their wooden burrows, where, on 

 a few dried weeds and feathers of different kinds, with a small quan- 

 tity of down from the breast of the female, the eggs, five to eight in 

 number, are deposited. The young, like those of the Wood Duck, are 

 conveyed to the w^ater by their mother, who carries them gently in 

 her bill ; for the male takes no part in providing for liis offspring, but 

 abandons his mate as soon as incubation has commenced. The affec- 

 tionate mother leads her young among the tall, rank grasses which 

 fill the shallow pools or the borders of creeks, and teaches them to 

 procure snails, tadpoles and insects." — Audubon. 



I have noticed that the Hooded Mergansers are frequently, in fact 

 generally, to be found about mill-ponds and other small bodies of 

 water, while the other two species are mostly found frequenting the 

 shallow borders of the larger streams. 



Food. 



During the summer months these birds are said to feed on fishes 

 and various forms of aquatic insects. 



