636 BRITISH BIRDS. 



MERGUS ALBELLUS. 

 SMEW. 



(PLATE 67.) 



Merganser cristatus minor. I 



Merganser stellatus, [ Bnss ' ' v1 ' PP- 243 > 252 ( 1760 )' 



Mergus albellus, Linn. Syst, Nat. i. p. 209 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum 



Temminck, Naumann, Dresser, Sounders, &c. 

 Mergus minutus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 209 (1706). 

 Mergus albulus, , ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 



Mergus pannonicus, | 



Merganser albellus (Linn.), Bodd. Tall. PI Enl. p. 27 (1783). 

 Mergellus albellus (Linn.), Selby, Gen. and Subgen. Birds, p. 47 (1840). 



The Smew is a rare straggler in winter to the coasts and inland waters 

 of the British Islands, most frequent in its occurrence on the eastern coast- 

 line of England and Scotland. It is found only at irregular intervals on 

 the west coast of Scotland, but has occurred in most of the southern 

 counties of that country; it is an equally rare and irregular visitor to 

 Ireland, principally to the northern and central districts. 



The Smew may be regarded as the Old- World representative of the 

 Hooded Merganser of the New World, though their differentiation took 

 place so long ago that the resemblances between the two species are very 

 slight. The geographical range of the Smew appears to extend from the 

 Pacific across Siberia and North Russia, as far west as the Baltic, and as 

 far north as the Arctic circle. It is not known to visit Iceland or the 

 Faroes, and is only an accidental wanderer on migration to the coasts of 

 Scandinavia. In West Russia there is no evidence of its breeding south 

 of the Gulf of Finland; but in East Russia Bogdanow found it breeding in 

 the valleys of the Kama and the Lower Volga, whilst Henke states that 

 it breeds in the delta of the latter river. These assertions do not seem 

 very consistent with Severtzow's statement that it only occurs in winter in 

 Turkestan, which is confirmed by Siberian travellers, who record it as 

 passing through Southern Siberia and Mongolia on migration to winter in 

 Japan, China, and Northern India. In the west it occurs in winter in 

 the Caspian and Black Seas, Central and Southern Europe, and occasion- 

 ally in North-west Africa. It has no very near ally. 



Although the Smew is perhaps less of an oceanic species than any other 

 Duck, it has the reputation of being the most expert diver of all its tribe. 



