SMEW. 379 



BY reversing the usual order of arrangement of the spe- 

 cies of this genus, and placing the smallest bird first, the 

 transition from the oceanic Ducks to the Mergansers is 

 easy and natural, agreeing as well in general appearance 

 as they are known to assimilate in habits. The Smew, 

 or Smee, as it is sometimes called, is a winter visiter here, 

 and the most common species of the genus, frequenting 

 our rivers and large pieces of fresh water, as well as most 

 parts of the coast. The adult male is a handsome bird, 

 remarkable for the contrast, rather than the variety of 

 the colours of his plumage. Young birds, frequently 

 called Bed-headed Smews, are much more common in our 

 markets than old males. As a species they are shy and 

 vigilant, taking long flights occasionally. They feed on 

 small fish, Crustacea, and aquatic insects, which they obtain 

 without difficulty, as they are excellent divers, but when 

 walking they appear to labour in their progression from 

 the backward position of their legs. 



Smews are not mentioned as having been known to 

 breed in this country, but leave us in spring to return to 

 more northern, or rather, north-eastern localities. Richard 

 Dann, Esq. tells me these birds are very common in the 

 Elbe in winter, and that he has seen them at the entrance 

 of the Stockholm Fiord in November, but nowhere else. 

 Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, says, that in the Russian 

 Empire Smews frequent the same places with the Goos- 

 ander ; each of them retiring southward at the approach 

 of winter ; and are observed returning up the Volga in 

 February, tending towards the north. The nesting habits 

 of the Smew are unknown, but the eggs are said to be 

 eight or ten in number, and the colour whitish. 



This bird is not found on the west coast of Norway, on 

 the Faroe Islands, in Iceland, or Greenland. The species 



