228 DUCK-LIKE DIVING BIRDS. 



breast black ; back black, becoming gray towards the 

 tail ; wing white at the bend, then black, with fine 

 white wing-bar, the flight-feathers being dark ; under 

 parts white, with black wavy lines on the sides of the 

 body and on the flanks ; bill, tapering and hooked, 

 bluish-gray ; legs and feet also bluish-gray. Female : 

 brown above, ruddy on crown and nape, and grayish 

 on upper back ; rest resembling male, but the breast 

 shaded with gray. Winter migrant. 



The Smew is a winter visitor, principally to 

 our eastern coasts, the birds being generally young 

 ones, which resemble the female in plumage, but 

 lack the dark face-patch. The Smew resembles 

 the Goosander and Red-Breasted Merganser in form 

 and in its gregariousness ; and, like them, it is pre- 

 eminently a swimmer and a diver. These faculties 

 it applies similarly to the capturing of fish, which it 

 pursues beneath the water during long submersion, 

 propelling itself by means of its wings through a 

 great space ere it reappears. The Smew rarely comes 

 inshore or to land, being a poor walker ; and, when dis- 

 turbed, it usually effects its escape by diving. Never- 

 theless, it has a free and rapid flight, and rises easily 

 from the water as a consequence of its narrow, pointed, 

 slightly curved wings. The form of the latter affords 

 valuable aid in identifying the bird when seen in 

 flight. The Smew further resembles the Goosander 

 in its remarkable habit of nesting in holes in tree- 

 trunks. In point of appearance, however, the white- 

 headed, white-necked Smew, with black-patched face 

 and blue-gray bill, is as far removed from the dark- 

 headed Goosander, with its red bill and feet, as it is 



