2124 



FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS 



those on the flanks vermiculated with blackish gray. Very different from either of 

 the above is the hooded merganser (M. cucullatus} , distinguished by the black beak 

 being shorter than the head, with smaller serrations, by the shorter metatarsus and 

 longer wing, and more especially by the full semicircular, erect and compressed 

 crest of hair-like feathers. In the male the head and upper neck are black, with 

 the exception of the hinder part of the crest, which is white edged with black, and 

 the white breast is marked on each side by two black crescentic bands. Mainly 



THE GOOSANDER. 



(One-fifth natural size.) 



North American, where it ranges from Alaska to Mexico, this merganser is a casual 

 visitor to Europe. Still more different is the beautiful smew (M. albellus}, in 

 which the bill is much shorter and deeper, with small and inconspicuous serrations, 

 and the crest much smaller than in the preceding species; while the tail has fre- 

 quently sixteen, in place of the usual eighteen feathers. The male smew, which 

 varies from seventeen to eighteen inches in length, has a greenish black patch on 

 the occiput, extending in a point on each side of the head, and another between the 



