SUBFAMILY MERGINM. 297 



Fish Ducks, and are not regarded as very desirable for 

 the table, the flesh being generally impregnated with the 

 flavor of fish, which is their principal food. They are 

 birds of handsome plumage, with hues from delicate 

 salmon tints to rich metallic greens. Some of the 

 species breed in trees, and all are fond of frequenting 

 secluded places, and keep much about the borders of 

 marshes and tidal creeks when upon the coast, and are 

 rarely seen on broad stretches of water. They fly very 

 rapidly and are expert divers, and destroy immense 

 numbers of small fish. Their peculiarly formed bill is 

 apt to attract the attention of the most indififerent 

 observer. 



KEY TO THE GENERA. 



A. Bill long, narrow, hooked. 

 a. Culmen longer than tarsus. 



1 GOOSANDER. 

 RED-BREASTED 



wara. | merganser. 



J Merganser. 



, ^ . . .., . ,. , ) hooded 



b . Serrations of maxilla not inclined ( ,. , ^ 



\ merganser. 



^^^^^^•^^^^- S Lophodytes. 



\ SMEW. 



f Mergus. 



b. Culmen shorter than tarsus. 



Of the first genus there are about seven species recognized, 

 but two only are natives of North America, viz., the Goosander 

 and the Red-Breasted Merganser. The second contains but one 

 species, — the beautiful Hooded Merganser, — restricted to North 

 America, very occasionally straying to Europe; while the third 

 has the attractive Smew, an Old-World species included in our 

 fauna on very slight grounds; the female, it is claimed, having 

 been twice taken within our boundaries, the male never. 



