620 THE AMERICAN MERGANSER. 



Adult female and immature: More conspicuously crested on hind-head and nape; 

 the head and upper neck dark cinnamon-brown, white on chin and sides of throat ; 

 above ashy blue-gray, with white speculum and black of wings much as in male ; 

 under-parts white, shaded on sides with color of back, and faintly tinged with 

 salmon ; bill red with dusky ridge ; feet chrome-yellow or orange, with dusky webs ; 

 eyes yellow. Length 25.00-27.00 (635. -685.8) ; wing 10.75 (273- 1 ) '> tau 4- 2 5 

 ( 108.) ; bill 2.15 (54.6) ; bill from nostril 1.50 (38.1) ; tarsus 1.90 (48.3). Female 

 averaging three or four inches shorter and proportioned accordingly. 



Recognition Marks. Mallard to Brant size; long, narrow bill with promi- 

 nent serrations on side ; under-parts white or pale salmon tinted ; no rusty or och- 

 raceous on breast. Lovers of swift waters ; river divers. 



Nest, occasionally on the ground, more commonly in hole of tree or stub, 

 lined with moss, grasses, and feathers. Eggs, 6-10, yellowish or creamy buff. 

 Av. size, 2.65 x i. 80 (67.3 x 45.7). 



General Range. North America generally, breeding south in the United 

 States to Pennsylvania and the mountains of Colorado and California. 



Range in Ohio. Not uncommon migrant. Winter resident in the southern 

 and perhaps sparingly summer resident in the northern part of the state. 



THE first glimpse of this splendid bird ever vouchsafed the writer was 

 upon the rock-bound shore of a certain emerald lake in the West. The bird 

 had been surprised at the water's edge, and winged as he attempted to rise. 

 With instant decision he took to the water and dove sharply. When some 

 twenty feet deep, he turned and paralleled the shore, intending to make a 

 landing at some distance and secrete himself among the rocks. It was a 

 rare sight from my vantage point some forty feet above, to watch the duck 

 cleaving the water with strong concerted strokes of his vermilion feet. In 

 that limpid water the resplendent black of his head and the salmon-tinted sides 

 shone almost as if there was nothing between us. I am almost sorry to add 

 that his ruse was not successful, and that his skin now- rests in the Oberlin 

 College museum. 



Not only are these Mergansers expert divers, but the sharp "teeth," 

 inclining backward as they do, are calculated to hold the most slippery prey. 

 Fish caught in fair pursuit form the bulk of their food, but frogs, water 

 insects, cray-fish, and other crustaceans, vary the monotony. Since the taking 

 of such prey depends primarily upon unimpeded eye-sight, it goes without 

 saying that these birds prefer clear waters and free course. Hence, they are 

 more often found upon our rivers, even the swiftest running streams, than 

 upon the reservoirs and reed-grown ponds. It is to be feared that when 

 the Fish Duck encounters a lusty school of minnows he does not agree thnt 

 "enough is as good as a feast." An Arctic authority, Hearne, states that 

 it devours fish in such great quantities as to be frequently obliged to disgorge 

 several before it can rise from the water. It is noteworthy in this connection 

 that the skin of the throat is unusually elastic, so that the bird can accommodate 

 a large catch. Dr. Wheaton mentions having captured one which had swal- 



