LOrHODYTES. MERGELLUS. 189 



Lophodytes cucullatus Salvador!, Cat. Birds B. M. xx\-ii. 1895, 

 p. 468. 



Cue ullatus with a cap or hood, cucullus. 



Distribution in the British Islands. A Bare Visitor. Four 

 fully authenticated examples are on record, one from north 

 Wales, winter of 1830-31, and three from Ireland: a pair, 

 co. Cork, Dec. 1878 ; a female, co. Kerry, Jan. 1881. Others 

 have been reported from Irehmd, Norfolk, and Yorkshire. 



General Distribution. The Hooded Merganser inhabits 

 North America and breeds from British Columbia, Labrador, 

 and Newfoundland southwards to New Mexico, Louisiana, 

 and Central Florida. In winter it visits Lower California, 

 Mexico, and the West Indies. It is recorded from Alaska 

 and the Bermudas. 



Genus MERGELLUS Stlby, Cat. Gen. & Subgen. Types 

 Birds, 1840, p. 47. 



Type : M. albellus (Linn.). 

 Mergellus, diminutive of Mergus, q. v. 



Mergellus albellus. SMEW. 



MergUS albellus Linrueus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 129 : 

 near Smyrna, Asia Minor. 



Mergus albellus Linn. B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 137 ; 

 Salvadori, Cat. Birds B. M. xxvii. 1895, p. 464; Saunders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 475. 

 Albellus=the little white (albus) bird. 



Distribution in the British Islands. A Winter Visitor, 

 seldom met with in the Shetlands and the Outer Hebrides, but 

 not uncommon in the Orkneys and along the east coast of 

 Great Britain ; it is less numerous on the south and west 

 coasts except round some of the Inner Hebrides. To Ireland 

 it is probably a regular visitor, but is always rare. The birds 

 seen are usually females and immature, the adult males being 

 seldom noticed near the shore, except in severe weather. 



General Distribution. The Smew inhabits the northern 

 portions of Europe and Asia, breeding from Finnish Lapland 



