THE MERGANSERS. 



THE Mergansers or Saw-bills differ from 

 all other Ducks in having a narrow bill, 

 quite unlike that of an ordinary Duck, 

 and furnished on the margins of both 

 mandibles with a series of distinct sharp- 

 pointed, saw-like teeth, curving backwards. 

 The Mergansers have longer wings and 

 lighter bodies for their size than the 

 diving Ducks, and are more powerful 

 on the wing. They have the primaries 

 coloured as in the True Ducks, but the con- 

 trast between the two webs of each quill 

 is perhaps not quite so strong. Like the 

 Ducks also, the males have a post-nuptial 

 plumage, apparently very closely resem- 

 bling that of the female. The Mergansers 

 have strong feet, the toes being much 

 longer than the tarsus, and these birds 

 possess unrivalled powers of diving. 



The Mergansers may be divided into 

 two minor sections : the Mergansers and 

 the Smews. 



The Mergansers are of about the size of 

 an ordinary Duck. The bill is about the 

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