BLUE MERGANSER. 171 



ABOUT eighteen inches in length : the head is deep 

 brown : from the orbits of the eyes, extending back- 

 wards and ending in a large pendent crest, is a 

 whitish streak ; the upper part of the crest is brown, 

 and the under black : the greater and lesser wing- 

 coverts, the scapulars, and tail, are black ; as are also 

 the secondaries, but the latter are mottled with white 

 on each web : the belly is white : the vent tawny : 

 the legs dusky yellow. 



This species inhabits North America, and arrives 

 at Hudson's Bay in May : it makes its nest with 

 grass, and lines it with feathers : it retires when the 

 rivers become frozen up. 



BLUE MERGANSER. 



(Merganser caeruleus.) 



ME. crhtatus caruleus, vert ice caudaque nigris, gula abdomine 



maculaque alarum albis. 

 Crested blue Merganser with the crown and tail black, the throat, 



abdomen, and spot on the wing white. 

 Mergus caeruleus. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 833. 

 Blue Merganser. Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. Stip. 74. Lath. Syn. 



Sup. ii. 340. 

 White-faced Duck. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 504. A. 



" LENGTH fourteen inches : beak one inch long, 

 narrow, and black : irides blue : the forehead and 

 crown of the head black and shining : a spot of white 

 on the ears : the back of the neck brown : the sea- 



