^''^^if ^^] Strong, Red-breasted Merganser. 487 



through a bam door and out into the yard where it was found by 

 the writer, al)out ten rods away lying peacefully on the ground 

 among some cliickens. 



On x\ugust 3, the merganser and hen were placed in a box and 

 taken to Chicago where they arrived safely after a journey of about 

 thirty hours. They were kept in a backyard in Chicago for about 

 ten days. During this time, the view shown in Plate XXII, fig. 2, 

 was taken. The bird was then fat and apparently healthy. When 

 about one month old it was taken to the Lincoln Park Zoological 

 Gardens. The keeper noticed the hen stepping on the merganser 

 and separated them. A day or so later the young bird died and 

 thus ended the hope that a zoological garden might have a li^•e 

 merganser. 



As is the case with young ducks, there appears to be little change 

 in the plumage during the first month. In Plate XXII, fig. 2, the 

 merganser is seen to be still in the down plumage. The tail is 

 provided with a set of bristly feathers which have a shaft or rhachis 

 and are in evidence even at hatching. 



According to Dawson and Bowles ^ the young birds are nearly 

 full grown before they can fly, but they can flutter over the water 

 very effectively, almost walking on it. 



Besides being an expert diver, the Red-breasted Merganser is 

 described by Morris,^ Samuels,^ and Dawson and Bowles as 

 sometimes swimming with the body submerged as the grebes do 

 with bill and upper part of the body only above water. 



Various writers including Dunn,'* Morris,* and Gould® state 

 that the male Red-breasted Merganser undergoes a molt after 

 the female begins incubation. This molt has been described by 

 Stone ^ for a specimen which was collected in July. The occur- 

 rence of a molt at this time would seem to support the view men- 

 tioned in this article that the male deserts the female after the 

 eggs are laid and takes no part in the care of the eggs or young. 



• Dawson and Bowles. The Birds of W^ashington. Vol. II. 



2 Morris, F. O. A History of British Birds. 



3 Samuels, E. A. Our Northern and Eastern Birds. ISS."?. p. ,526. 



* Quoted in Yarrell's "A History of British Birds." 

 ' Morris, F. O. A History of British Birds. 



« Gould, J. The Birds of Great Britain. Vol. V. 



' Stone, W. The Summer Molting Plumage of Certain Ducks. Proc. Acad. 

 Nat. Sc. Philadelphia. 1899. pp. 471-472. 



