34 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



This handsome bird, the smallest of the Mergansers, is found generally 

 throughout North America. Nuttall remarks that in winter it migrates 

 as far south as Mexico. The Hooded Merganser breeds in various por- 

 tions of the United States, and also far northward. Dr. Coues (Birds 

 of the Northwest) states that it " breeds in northern Dakota and also on 

 the upper Missouri and Milk rivers." I have seen eggs of this bird 

 which were labeled " Maine," and am informed that young, but a few 

 days old, have been taken in New York State. In Pennsylvania this 

 species is rather common, and is generally seen singly or in pairs, 

 sometimes in flocks of five or eight, in rivers and ponds during the 

 spring, fall and winter months. A few of these ducks are also observed 

 here in summer, but as natives they are quite uncommon, and they 

 have of late years been found breeding only in a few secluded locali- 

 ties in our state. Prof. H. Justin Koddy, of Millersville, Pa., in a letter 

 dated July 15, 1889, says, "The Hooded Merganser does not now breed 

 regularly in Perry county (Pa.), but I have the last two years secured 

 young specimens ; one last June (1888), and one this year in the same 

 month. They formerly bred regularly along Sherman's creek, near the 

 Warm Springs." Mr. August Koch, of Williamsport, informs me this 

 Merganser is a regular but rare breeder in Lycoming county. The 

 late Wm. V. Kambo, of West Chester, had in his collection two adults 

 (male and female) of this species which were captured four years ago, 

 in midsummer, in Union county. I have an adult female taken June 

 23, 1890, in Chester county, where this Merganser is seldom seen in 

 summer. " The Hooded Mergansers that remain with us nestle in the 

 same kind of holes or hollows as the Wood Duck ; at least I have found 

 their nests in such situations seven or eight times, although I never saw 

 one of them alight on the branches of a tree, as the birds just mentioned 

 are wont to do. They dive as it were directly into their wooden burrows, 

 where, on a few dried weeds and feathers of different kinds, with a small 

 quantity of down from the breast of the female, the eggs, five to eight 

 in number, are deposited. The young, like those of the Wood Duck, 

 are conveyed to the water by their mother, who carries them gently in 

 her bill ; for the male takes no part in providing for his offspring, but 

 abandons his mate as soon as incubation has commenced. The affec- 

 tionate mother leads her young among the tall, rank grasses which fill 

 the shallow pools or the borders of creeks, and teaches them to procure 

 snails, tadpoles and insects." Audubon. 



I have noticed that the Hooded Mergansers are usually to be found 

 about mill-ponds and other small bodies of water, while the other two 

 species are mostly found frequenting the shallow borders of the larger 

 streams. 



During the summer months these birds are said to feed on fishes and 

 various forms of aquatic insects. In the following table will be found 

 the stomach contents of eleven Hooded Mergansers examined by myself: 



