88 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



with rusty) in adult ; tail-coverts and crissum grayish, barred 



with dusky and whitish Philacte. (Page 118.) 



a 2 . Neck as long as or longer than body. (Subfamily CygnincK.) 



Largest of American Anatidce (length more than three feet) ; color entirely 

 pure wliite, with black bill and feet, in adult, grayish in young. 



Olor. (Page 120.) 



GENUS MERGANSER BRISSON. (Page 84, pi. XXI., fig. 4.) 



Species. 



COMMON CHARACTERS. Adult male with head and upper neck greenish black, 

 the occiput crested ; rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, plain ash-gray ; rest of upper 

 parts mainly pied black and whitish ; lower parts rich creamy white or pale salmon- 

 color. .Adult female, with head and upper neck cinnamon-brownish (occiput crested, 

 as in the male), chin and part of throat white ; upper parts grayish, with some 

 white on wings ; lower parts buffy white. 



a 1 . Distance between nostril and nearest feathering at base of upper mandible much 

 greater than height of upper mandible at base ; feathering at base of upper 

 mandible, on sides, projecting very slightly forward, and not forming a 

 distinct angle. 



b l . No visible black bar across white of wing-coverts. Adult male: Head and 

 upper neck greenish black, the top of the latter with a soft " bushy" 

 crest, conspicuous only when erected ; chest and other lower parts rich 

 creamy white, or (especially in freshly-killed specimens) delicate pale 

 salmon-color; wing 10.70-11.00, culmen 2.05-2.30, tarsus 1.90-2.00, 

 middle toe 2.35-2.60. Adult female : Head and upper neck tawny brown 

 or cinnamon, the chin and throat whitish, the occiput with a conspicuous 

 pointed crest ; upper parts chiefly ash-gray, with white on secondaries 

 and greater wing-coverts; wing 9.75-10.25, culmen 1.80-1.90, tarsus 

 1.65-1.80, middle toe 2.35. Hob. Northern parts of the eastern hemi- 

 sphere, from western Europe to Kamtschatka. 



M. merganser LINN. Merganser. 1 



b 1 . A very conspicuous black bar across white of wing-coverts. (Plumage 

 not otherwise essentially different from that of M. merganser, but feath- 

 ering at base of bill having a quite distinct outline.) Downy young : 

 Upper half of head, and hind-neck, rusty brown, more' reddish on the 

 latter, where encroaching on sides of neck; remaining upper parts hair- 

 brown, relieved by four white spots ; lower parts, including rest of head 

 and neck, white ; a stripe on lower half of lores, white ; beneath this, a 

 narrower stripe of deep brown, and a similar, but broader, brown stripe 

 on upper half of lores. Male : Length 25.00-27.00, wing 10.50-11.25, 

 culmen 1.90-2.20, tarsus 1.90-2.00, middle toe 2.40-2.50. Female : Length 



1 Mergui merganser LINN., S. N. ed. 10, i. 1758, 129. Merganser merganser STEJN., Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. 

 No. 29, 1885, 176. 



