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MERGANSER. MERGANSER. 



Generic Character. 



Rostrum capite longius, rec- 

 tum, gracile, subcylindri- 

 cum, basi depressiuscu- 

 lum ; mandibula superiore 

 apice valde adunco, ungui- 

 culato. 



Nares in medio rostri sitas, 



parvse, ovatae. 

 Pedes breves, digitus exter- 



nus reliquis longior. 



Beak as long as the head, 

 straight, slender, some- 

 what cylindric, its base ra- 

 ther depressed ; the upper 

 mandible with its tip much 

 bent, and armed with a 

 nail. 



Nostrils placed in the middle 

 of the beak, small, ovate. 



Legs short, the outer toe 

 larger than the rest. 



MERGANSER. Briss. 



MERGUS. Ray, Linn., Gmel., Lath., &c. 



1 HE Mergansers have the beak as long as the 

 head, and more slender and deeply serrated in pro- 

 portion than the Smews : this part has each man- 

 dible armed, throughout its length, with a row of 

 small pointed teeth, similar to those of a saw, and 

 pointing backwards : the tip of the upper mandible 

 is hooked. The swelling of the lower larynx of the 

 trachea in the males is very large, and is partly mem- 

 branaceous. These birds feed chiefly upon fish. 



