BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 65 



Range. — Northern part of northern hemisphere. Breeds in North America 

 from arctic coast of Alaska, northern Mackenzie, Cumberland Sound 

 and Greenland (latitude 73 degrees) south to southern British Columbia, 

 southern Alberta, southern Minnesota, central Wisconsin, northern New 

 York, southern Maine and Sable Island; winters in southern Green- 

 land, the Commander Islands and from southern British Columbia, 

 Utah, Colorado, southern Wisconsin, southern Ontario and Maine 

 south to southern Lower California, Louisiana and Florida; casual in 

 Bermuda, Cuba and Hawaii. 



History. 



The Red-breasted Merganser was once numerous through- 

 out New England, where it formerly bred about many of the 

 lakes and ponds of the northern portions, while it frequented 

 the rivers of Massachusetts in fall and spring. It still breeds 

 to some extent in the wooded interior of INIaine, Vermont and 

 New York, and several gunners about Falmouth on Cape Cod 

 claim to have seen females there w^ith young Ducklings in 

 summer. 



Nuttall (1834) says that it frequented the fresh waters 

 even in winter, but in Massachusetts it is now largely con- 

 fined to the vicinity of the sea-coast ; it is still numerous 

 there in its migrations, particularly in the waters about Cape 

 Cod. Eighty-two observers reported as follows in 1908 on 

 the status of this species: fifteen record it as increasing; 

 seven of these are in Barnstable County; thirty-four report 

 a decrease. These reports are mainly from the interior, but 

 the bird is recorded from every county in the State. Reports 

 from the Maritime Provinces, Maine, Rhode Island and Con- 

 necticut indicate that the species has fallen off over fifty per 

 cent, in numbers along the coast. 



This bird is a swift and rather silent flier, and an exceed- 

 ingly expert diver. While swimming on the surface it some- 

 times raises and lowers its crest. This is more of a marine 

 species than the American Merganser, but is nevertheless not 

 uncommon in the interior of the countrj^ particularly in the 

 lake regions, during migration. In Massachusetts there 

 appears to be a double migration of this species, the first flight 

 coming north in February and the second in April. 



