198 The Water-fowl Family 



A flash of black and white, and he is gone. 

 When other ducks have stopped flying, and you 

 still stay in the blind not watching all directions 

 as carefully as in the early morning, suddenly 

 there is a sensation of something around and you 

 catch a glimpse of this freak streak, too late to do 

 anything more. He came and went as only a 

 hairy crown can. This is the name he goes by 

 along many parts of our coast, although his wide 

 distribution and stunning plumage have given 

 him a number of others, and he is variously 

 called water-pheasant, hairy-head, cotton-head, 

 pond-shell drake, and spikebill. 



The hooded merganser breeds along most of 

 its range, from Florida north, but more commonly 

 from the northern United States throughout the 

 fur countries. The nest is placed in a hollow 

 tree often twenty feet from the ground, near a 

 stream or along the shore of some lake, occa- 

 sionally at a considerable distance from water. 

 The birds fly through the woods and light on a 

 tree with speed and grace. An interesting in- 

 stance is recorded by Mr. Boardman of where 

 a female wood duck and a female hooded mer- 

 ganser contested for the possession of a nesting- 

 place in the hollow of a tree ; later the nest was 

 found to contain eighteen fresh eggs, about a 

 third belonging to the merganser. The brood is 

 first seen in late June, when the young are scarce 



