3S0 BIRDS. 



Three species appear in France during the winter; their varia- 

 tions of plumage have induced some naturalists to increase the num- 

 ber. It is said that they breed in the North among the rocks or 

 reeds, and lay a great many eggs. 



Merg. merganser, L. ; Le Harle vulgaire, Enl. 951; Naum. I, 

 c. 61, f.93, Brit. Zool. pi. N. ; Frisch, 190; Wils. VIII, Ixviii, 1. 

 (The Goosander). Is the size of a Duck, and has red feet and a bill 

 of the same hue. The head of the old male is of a deep green, the 

 feathers on its summit forming a sort of toupee ; the mantle is black, 

 •with a white spot over the wing; underneath and the neck, white, 

 slightly tinged with rose-colour. The young and the females — 

 Merg. castor, Enl. 953 ; Frisch, 191 ; Naum. 61, f. 93, B, are grey 

 with a red head. 



Merg. serrator, L. ; Harle huppee, Enl. 207; Edw. 95; Naum. 

 I, c. 61, f. 90; Wils. VIII, Ixix, 2. (The Red-breasted Mergan- 

 ser). Bill and feet red; the body variegated with black, white, and 

 brown ; head of a black -green ; a pendent tuft on the occiput. The 

 young and the females — Harles noirs, H. a manteau noir, Naum. 

 62, f. 95, have a bro-mi head. 



M. alhellus, L. ; La Piette, nonnette, petit harle, Enl. 449; 

 Frisch, 172; Naum. 63, f. 97; Brit. Zool. pi. N, 1; Wils. VIII, 

 xci, 9. (The Smew). Bill and feet blue ; body white, varied with 

 black ou the mantle ; a black spot near the eye, and one on the 

 occiput. The young males and the females — Merg, minutus, ir.us- 

 telinus, &c., Enl. 450; Brit. Zool. pi. N, 2; Naum. 63, f. 98, are 

 grey with a red head*. 



* Among the Mergansers foreign to Eui-ope, the only ones well ascertained are the 

 M. cucullatus of Carolina, Enl. 935 and 936, and the M. brasiliensis, Vieill. Gal. 283. 



END OF VOL. 



LOND^.V: 

 W. W'L<OW.\LL, HRlJiTIili, J't.MbEKTON ROW, 



