188 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



mainly white. Adult female: Very similar in color to that of M. americanus, but dis- 

 tinguished by different position of the nostrils, and different outline of the feathering 

 at baso of the bill, bize also smaller. 



Merganser americanus (Cass.) 



AMERICAN MEBGANSER. 



Popular synonyms. Buff-breasted Merganser; Buff- breasted Sheldrake: Saw-bill; Fish 

 Duck; Sheldrake, etc. 



Mergus merganser WILS. Am. Orn. vili. 1814. 68. pi. 68 (nee LINN.). Sw. & RiCH.F. B.-A. 



ii, 1831, 461. NUTT. Man. ii. 1834, 460. AUD. Orn. Biog. iv. 1838.261. pL 331; Synop.1839, 



297; B. Am. vi. 1843. 387, pi. 411. COUES, Key, 1872, 296; Cheek List, 1873, No. 521; 2d 



ed. 1882. No. 743; Birds N. W. 1874. 583.-HKNSH. ZooL Wheeler's Exp. 1875, 483. 



Mergus americanus CASS. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. vi, 1853, 187. BAIED, B. N. Am. 1858, 



813; Cat. N. Am B. 1859. No. 611. 



Mergus castor, a. americanus BONAP. Compt. Bend, xliii, 1856. 652. 

 Mergus merganser ft. americanus Rroow. Orn. 40th Par. 1877. 627. 

 Mergus merganser americanus Rroow. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. iii, 1880, 205; Nom. N. Am. B. 



1881, No. 636. B. B. & B. Water B. N. Am. ii, 1884, 112. 

 Merganser americanus STEJN. Orn. ExpL Kamtsch. 1885, 177. A.O.U. Check List, 1886, 



No. 129. BH>GW. Man. N. Am. B. 1887. 89. 



HAB. Whole of North America, breeding from northern border of United States north- 

 ward. 



SP. CHAB. Adult male: Head and upper half (or more) of the neck deep black, the 

 elongated feathers of the pileum and nape distinctly, other portions faintly, glossed with 

 greenish; whole back and innermost scapulars deep black; rump, upper tail-coverts, and 

 tail, plain cinereous ; sides of the crissum (anteriorly) and femoral region, whitish, narrowly 

 barred with slate-color; primary-coverts, primaries, and outer secondaries, plain blackish 

 dusky. Remainder of the plumage fine light salmon-buff in life, fading to buffy white in 

 dried skins; innermost secondaries narrowly skirted with black; base of the greater 

 coverts deep black, forming a distinct bar about half way across the wing; anterior border 

 of the wing dusky grayish or blackish. Bill deep vermilion-red, the culmen and nail black ; 

 feet deep red; iris carmine. Adult female: Head and upper half of the neck reddish cinna- 

 mon, the pileum and occipital crest (the latter much longer than in the male) more brown, 

 the lores grayish; chin, throat, and malar region, white; upper parts, sides, and flanks 

 bluish gray, the innermost secondaries white, the exposed portion of the lower greater 

 coverts white, tipped with dusky; outermost secondaries, primary coverts, and primaries, 

 uniform slate-color. Lower parts, except laterally, pale creamy salmon-color, fading to 

 nearly white In dried specimens, the feathers of the chest ash-gray beneath the surface. 

 Bill, eyes, and feet, as in the male, but less brilliant in color. 



Downy Young. Upper half of the head, with nape, reddish brown, more reddish on the 

 nape, where encroaching on the sides of the neck; remaining upper parts hair-brown, or 

 grayish umber, relieved by four white spots, one on the posterior border of each wing, and 

 one on each side the rump; lower parts white; a stripe on the lower half of the lores, run- 

 ning backward beneath the eye, white; below this a narrower st;ipe of deep brown, 

 from the rictus to the auricular region; a wide stripe, occupying the upper half of the lores, 

 from the b.ll to the eye, blackish brown, this separated from the umber of the forehead by 

 a very indistinct streak of brownish white or pale brown.* 



Adult male. Total length, about 27 inches, extent. 36; wing, 10.50-11.25; oulmen, 1.90-2.20; 

 tarsus, 1.90-2.00; middle toe, 2.40-2.60. Adult female. Total length, about 24 inches, extent. 

 34; wing, 9.60-9.75; culmen. 1.80-2.00; tarsus, 1.85-1.90; middle toe. 2.25-2.40. 



* Described from No. 5,783, BricUrer's Pass, Bocky Mountains, Aug. 13, 1856; W. 8. Wood. 

 Distinguishable with certainty from the young of M. serrator by the different position of 

 the nostril. 



