360 MERGANSERS 



LIFE STORY 



The Red-breasted Merganser is a common species throughout the 

 northern portions of Europe, Asia and America. Both the male and the 

 female are exceptionally beautiful birds and from the esthetic point of 

 view their value is high. But as game birds they are valueless; their 

 flesh is rank, tough, and unpalatable. Probably the only place where 

 they are regularly hunted is on the coast of New England and eastern 

 Canada and there probably only by those who hunt "coots" and relish 

 their stew. As the merganser population of 

 this continent consumes hundreds of mil- 

 lions of fishes annually, fishermen love not 

 this voracious enemy of the finny tribe. They 

 see all that is sinister in its malevolent red 

 eye, and wicked red bill, with its rows of 

 needle-sharp teeth designed to ensure that 

 no fish shall escape the voyage into the 

 bloody gullet which has already welcomed so many thousands of their 

 kind. The fisherman's view, however, naturally tends to be biased. Dr. 

 Harrison F. Lewis sent the author a brief account of the economic status 

 of the mergansers which is included in the "Life Story" of the American 

 Merganser, and to which the reader is referred. 



The Red-breasted Merganser, unlike the two other mergansers, al- 

 ways builds its nest upon the ground. The nest is usually well con- 

 cealed under dwarf spruces, firs, or willows, or among the roots of trees, 

 or a pile of driftwood; it consists of a hollow in the ground often pro- 

 fusely lined with the grey down from the mother's breast. When the 

 set of eggs is complete, a thick blanket of down mixed with rubbish is 

 used to cover the eggs during the mother's absence. The number of 

 eggs may vary from 8 to 16, though the usual number is from 8 to 10. 

 The average size of the eggs is 2.54 by 1.77 inches, and the colour is of 

 varying shades of olive buff. The period of incubation lasts from 26 to 

 28 days and is performed by the female alone. The young are active 

 from a few hours after hatching and are able to wriggle over the 

 ground in a prostrate manner. They are soon strong enough to run 

 around and climb easily onto the mother's back. 



It is unusual for the drake of any of the ducks to take part in the 

 raising of the young, but of this species Townsend (in Bent, 1923) says: 

 "Both parents are assiduous in caring for the young. The young mer- 

 gansers are carefully fed and guarded by their parents, and the family 

 group keeps together until the young are fully grown. At the slightest 

 sign of danger the young conceal themselves under the bushes and among 

 the reeds of the banks of the river or pond, while the adults do their best 

 to entice the intruder away. When suddenly disturbed in the open the 

 young are able to make their way over the surface of the water with sur- 

 prising rapidity by the combined action of the wings and legs. The noise 

 of such a flight often confuses the enemy. On open shores I have known 

 the young to flee from the approaching canoe, creep ashore, and, trust- 



