BIRDS OF NEW YORK I 79 



Like the other mergansers, this species usually splashes on the water 

 with its feet when taking wing, but is a strong flier when fully under wa}'. 

 Young birds, before the wing feathers are grown, will flop and run over the 

 water so swiftly that two men in a canoe will scarcely overtake them, 

 and, even if overtaken, the}' dive so experth' that it is almost impossible 

 to capture them. The brood remains together on such occasions unless 

 too closely pvirsued, when they suddenly scatter and collect again after the 

 danger is past. The mother bird is deeply concerned for the welfare of 

 her young and flies ahead whistling and calling to her ducklings with every 

 evidence of distress. 



This bird feeds on fish, crayfish and other aquatic animals which it 

 captures by diving, an occupation to which its long, arrowlike shape and 

 broad, strong feet are peculiarly adapted. On one occasion I fired into a 

 flock of Sawbills at close range, bringing down fot:r of the birds, but all of 

 them plunged into the water like so niany stones, and only one of them ever 

 so much as gave me a glimpse of himself again. 



The nest of this merganser is placed in an old stump, or a hollow tree 

 near the water, and is made of grass and leaves, lined with down. The 

 eggs are from 6 to ii in number, of a creamy buff color, and measure 2.65 by 

 1.75 inches. 



Mergus serrator Linnaeus 

 Rcd-brcastcd Merganser 



Plate 10 



Mergus serrator Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10. 1758. i: 129 



DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 319, fig. 266 

 Merganser serrator. A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 130 



serrd'tor, Lat., sawyer, referring to the sawbill 



Description. Male: Head and upper neck dark glossy green; occipital 

 crest long, pointed and double; a white collar nearh' surrounds the lower 

 neck; back and inner scaptdars black; outer scapulars and mirror white 

 with black; rump and flanks with gray vermiculations ; elongated feathers 

 in front of wing black and white ; upper breast and sides of lower neck pale 

 chestnut, dashed with blackish; breast and belly white usually tinged with 

 salmon color; sides with wavy grayish vermiculations; bill and iris red; 



