OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 451:. 



Family ANATID^). Genus MEBGUS. 



Subfamily MERGING. 



SMEW. 



MEEGUS ALBELLUS Linnasus.' 



Mergus albellus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 209 (1766) ; Macgill. Brit. B. v. p. 233 (1852) ; 

 Dresser, B. Eur. vi. p. 699, pis. 454, 455 (1874) ; Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 

 636 (1885) ; Yarrell, Brit. B. ed. 4, iv. p. 449 (1885); Lilford, Col. Pig. Brit. B. pt. 

 xiv. (1891) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. p. 186 (1894) ; Salvadori, 

 Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxvii. p. 464 (1895) ; Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 58, 

 pi. 15 (1896) ; Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 52 (1896). 



Geographical distribution British : The Smew is a rare and 

 irregular winter visitor to the British Islands, where, as one might naturally 

 expect from the peculiarities of its normal geographical area, it is most 

 frequently observed on our eastern seaboard. Adult males are nothing near so 

 frequently observed as young males and females, and these are pretty generally 

 dispersed along the south and east coasts of England and the east coast of 

 Scotland. On the west of England and Scotland, including the Hebrides, it is 

 much rarer. In Ireland it is also of rare and irregular appearance, principally in 

 the north and central districts. Foreign : Northern Palsearctic region, more 

 southerly in winter; extreme north of Oriental region in winter. The Smew 

 breeds in Eussia as far west as Finnish Lapland, as far north as the Arctic 

 Circle, and as far south as the Gulf of Finland in the west, and the valleys 

 of the Kama and Lower Volga in the east. Thence it may be traced across 

 Northern Siberia south of the Arctic Circle (some authorities say the limit of 

 forest growth) to the shores of the Pacific. During migration or in winter it is 

 an accidental wanderer to the Scandinavian coasts (both the Atlantic and the 

 Baltic), but it is not known to visit the Faroes and Iceland. It is also found at 

 this season along the coasts and on the inland waters of Central, Western, and 

 Southern Europe, as far south as Morocco and the Mediterranean. It also visits 

 the Black and Caspian Seas at this season. On migration it crosses Turkestan, 

 Southern Siberia, and Mongolia, and winters in Northern India, China, and 

 Japan. 



Allied forms. None of sufficient propinquity to call for notice. 



