HOODED MERGANSER. 183 



shot from the nest on Loch Awe has the crown and 

 crest pale umber-brown, cheeks and neck reddish 

 brown, paler on the fore part and chin, and shading 

 into a brownish grey on the lower part of the neck ; 

 the upper parts and sides of the breast are blackish 

 grey, the tips of the feathers ragged and of a pale 

 grey ; the greater covers and secondaries are as in 

 the male, showing the double black bar across ; the 

 tertials have the black edge, but it is much broader, 

 and except on one or two the white is not pure ; 

 the breast, belly, and vent are pure white. The 

 young males are nearly similar, the colour, of the 

 head being rather brighter and the crest very short. 

 The young, a few days old, are, above, of a dark 

 clove-brown ; below, white, having the sides of the 

 neck reddish. 



THE HOODED MERGANSER, MERGUS CUCULLATUS. 

 Mr. Selby first noticed this species as a native 

 of Britain, and sent a description of a specimen, a 

 young female, to the Transactions of the Natural 

 History Society of Newcastle and Durham, and 

 afterwards gave a figure of the same in his Illustra- 

 tions of British Ornithology. Since that time a 

 few additional specimens have been obtained in 

 England, amo?<g them an adult male by Mr. Hay 

 of Stoke Nayland. In Europe it also only claims 

 the rank of an occasional visitant, and is best known 

 as an American species. In winter it ranges through 

 the United States, and breeds in the vicinity of 

 Louisville, placing the nest in hollow trees; but 



