MERGANSERS 187 



Most of these birds breed north of the United States; in eastern 

 North America, only five of our forty species nesting south of latitude 

 41. We know them, therefore, as migrants and as winter visitants 

 and to those who are so fortunate as to live near their haunts, their 

 goings and comings are among the most important events in the birds' 

 calendar. Strong of wing, hardy of body, many species pass the winter 

 on the open sea, while the river and bay Ducks remain until ice forms, 

 and return the first day of open water. How the eye is held by the 

 sight of their swiftly moving forms silhouetted against the sky! Through 

 them, bird-life makes its strongest appeal to our love of the wild and 

 elemental in nature. 



As the ancestors of our domesticated water-fowl and as game, the 

 Anatidce are doubtless better known to man than any other birds. Of 

 late years their numbers have been greatly reduced by excessive shoot- 

 ing for market and for sport, and by the reclamation for the agriculturist 

 of vast areas in which formerly they bred. We have, consequently, 

 only to examine the history of the past few decades to be assured that 

 a further attempt to supply the unlimited and ever-growing demands 

 of the game-dealer for wild-fowl means, ultimately, that both market 

 hunters and sportsmen may lay aside their guns. Let us, therefore, 

 look to our poultry yards for Ducks and Geese as food, and leave the 

 wild birds as a lure to draw brain-weary toilers to marsh, bay and 

 headland. 



1896. JOB, H. K., Ducks of Plymouth Co., Mass., Auk, XIII, 197-204. 

 1897. CORY, C. B., How to Know the Ducks, Geese and Swans, 8vo. pp. 

 94, many ills. 1898. ELLIOT, D. G., Wild-Fowl of United States and 

 British Possessions, 8vo, pp. 316, plls. 63 (Francis Harper). 1901-2. 

 BENT, A. C., Nesting Habits of Anatidse in N. D., Auk, XVIII, 328-336; 

 XIX, 1-12; 165-174. 1902. JOB, H. K., Among the Water-Fowl (Double- 

 day). 1903. HUNTINGTON, D. W., Our Feathered Game, 8vo, pp. 396, 

 plls. 37. 1903. SANFORD, L. C., BISHOP, L. B., VAN DYKE, T. S., The 

 Water-Fowl Family, 12mo. pp. ix-598, plls. 20 (Macmillan). 1906. COOKE, 

 W. W., Dist. and Migr. of N. A. Ducks, Geese, and Swans, Bull. 26, Biol. 

 Surv. 1907. RICH, W. H., Feathered Game of the Northeast, 8vo. pp. 

 432, pis. 87. 1909. DEHAVEN, I. N., Duck Shooting on N. J. Coast, 

 Cassinia, 11-18. 1910. GRINNELL, G. B., American Game Bird Shooting, 

 8vo, pp. xviii-558 (Forest and Stream). 1910. HUNTINGTON, D. W., 

 Our Wild Fowl and Waders, pp. 207 (New York City). 1911. PHILLIPS, 

 J. C., Ten Years' Migration of Anatidse at Wenham, Mass., Auk, XXVIII, 

 188-200; see also, 319-323. 



Subfamily Mergince. Mergansers. (Fig. 33.) 



The five subfamilies into which our Anatidce fall are so well defined, 

 it seems advisable to treat of each one separately. The first of these, 

 the Shelldrakes or Sawbills, are fish-eating Ducks. They pursue and 

 capture their prey under water, progressing by aid of the feet alone, 

 and their serrate bills seem especially adapted to this mode of feeding. 

 Three of the nine known species are found in North America, and all 

 may be recognized in life by their cylindrical bill. 



