98 MERGANSERS. 



Aside from the general remarks at the head of each subfamily I 

 can add little which will aid in the identification of the species in the 

 field. Ducks are shy creatures, and familiarity with their habits is 

 gained only by long experience. 



Subfamily MergincB. Mergansers. 



The Shelldrakes or Sawbills are fish-eating Ducks. They pursue 

 and capture their prey under water, and their serrate bills seem espe- 

 cially adapted to this mode of feeding. The flesh of adult Sheldrakes 

 is rank and fishy ; but the Hooded Merganser is an excellent table 

 Duck. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



A. Bill under 1*75, wing 8-00 or under .... 131. HOODED MERGANSER. 



B. Bill over 1*75, wing over 8-00. 



a. Head and throat black. 



a 1 . Breast and belly white,, tinged with salmon. 



129. AM. MERGANSER ( $ ad.). 

 a a . Breast brownish, thickly streaked and spotted with black. 



130. RED-BREASTED MERGANSER ( $ ad.). 



b. Head and sides of the neck rich rufous- brown ; distance from nostril 

 to end of bill less than 1-50 . . . . 129. AM. MERGANSER (9 and im.). 



c. Crown grayish brown, more or less washed with cinnamon-rufous ; sides 

 of the neck cinnamon-rufous ; distance from nostril to end of bill over 

 1-50 130. RED-BREASTED MERGANSER ( 9 and im.). 



129. Merganser americanus (Cass.). AMERICAN MERGANSER; 

 GOOSANDER; SHELLDRAKE. (See Fig. 16.) Ad. $. Whole head and upper 

 neck glossy greenish black ; bind neck, secondaries, lesser wing-coverts, and 

 ends of greater ones white ; back black, rump and tail ashy gray ; breast and 

 belly white, delicately tinged with salmon. Ad. 9 and Im. Cbin and upper 

 throat white ; lower throat and entire top of the head rufous-brown ; rest of 

 upper parts and tail ashy gray; speculum* white; breast and belly white. 

 L., 25-00; W., 10-50; Tar., 1-85; B. from N., 1-50. 



Range. North America generally ; breeds from Minnesota and southern 

 New Brunswick northward; winters from Kansas, Illinois, and Maine south- 

 ward to South Carolina. 



Washington, rare W. V. Long Island, uncommon W. V., Nov. to Mch. 

 Sing Sing, tolerably common T. V., Jan. 1 to Mch. 8. Cambridge, formerly 

 common T. V., Oct. to Dec. 



Nest, of leaves, grasses, and moss, lined with down, in a hole in a tree or 

 cliff. Eggs, six to ten, creamy buff, 2-65 x T75. 



" This bird is fond of plunging beneath rushing currents for its 

 food, and should it encounter a raft of floating rubbish or an ice-cake 



* A patch in the wing formed by the end half of the secondaries, which in 

 Ducks are generally of a different color from the rest of the wing-feathers. 



