160 ANATID.E 



Dingle Bay, co. Kerry, by Dr. Chute (Thompson) ; the 

 other bird, as recorded by Watters ('Birds of Ireland'), 

 was shot in the co. Meath. 



Mr. J. G Millais is in the possession of a specimen 

 supposed to have been killed in Tralee harbour, co. Kerry, 

 in 1880. The three remaining birds were shot by Sir K. 

 Payne-Gall wey, who writes as follows: "I had the good 

 fortune to kill two of these birds in the south of Ireland in 

 December 1878, and a third in the very severe frost of 

 January 1881, on the coast of Kerry, after a heavy gale 

 from the north-west. All three birds were shot on the 

 tide. One w r as an adult male and two were females. In 

 my anxiety to obtain the former I fired at such close 

 quarters that I cut its head clean off, but it was afterwards 

 fixed to the body w^hen the bird was preserved " (* Letters to 

 Young Shooters/ Third Series, pp. 191, 192). "From 

 what I saw of those I shot, they appeared to fly faster 

 and with a more darting motion than other Mergansers, 

 and though diving with equal facility, not excelling their 

 congeners" ('Fowler in Ireland,' p. 122). 



A specimen from the Menai Straits, North Wales, 

 obtained in the winter of 1830-31, has been described and 

 figured by Eyton (' History of The Barer British Birds,' 

 p. 75). Stevenson, in his ' Birds of Norfolk,' iii, p. 228, 

 refers to a male of this species obtained in Norfolk in the 

 winter of 1837-38. Less authenticated statements are 

 omitted here. 



From the above data it may be seen that the Hooded 

 Merganser has touched most often on the western sea-board 

 of Ireland, as we might expect from a Trans-Atlantic 

 wanderer. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. The most noticeable 

 part of this bird's plumage is its handsome black and white 

 semi-circular hood, the white feathers of which run back 

 from behind the eye ] and spread out in a fan-shaped manner, 

 the tips of the fan being edged with black. The hood is 

 thick and bushy, and composed of short, wavy feathers ; it 

 differs materially from the crests of the larger Mergansers, 

 the plumes of which are pointed, elongated, and sparsely 

 arranged. Neck and back, black ; primaries, rump, and 



1 A white patch of similar distribution is to be seen on the Buffel- 

 headed Duck, so that at a distance the two species might be confounded. 



