56 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



7. Hind toe without a distinct membranous lobe. (River Ducks.) See 8. 



7. Hind toe with a broad membranous lobe. (Sea Ducks.) See 15. 



8. Bill spoon-shaped, very narrow at base and broad at tip. Spatula. 



8. Bill not spoon-shaped. See 9. 



9. Tail-feathers broad, rounded at tips. Male with a large crest. Aix. 

 9. Tail-feathers narrow, rather pointed; no crest. See 10. 



10. Tail pointed, the middle feathers much longer than the others. Tail of 16 feathers. 

 Dafila. 



10. Tail not much pointed, middle feathers not much longer than the rest. See 11. 



11. Culmen longer than middle toe without claw. See 12. 



11. Culmen shorter than middle toe without claw. See 14. 



12. Speculum violet, bordered with black. Length more than 20. Anas. 



12. Speculum green; length less than 20. (Teal.) See 13. 



13. Wing-coverts sky-blue. Querquedula. 



13. Wing-coverts leaden gray without blue. Nettion. 



14. Lamellae of bill very fine, more than 30 visible from outside. Bill not shorter than head. 



Chaulelasmus. 



14. Lamellae coarser, less than 15 visible externally. Bill shorter than head. Mareca. 



15. Tail more than half length of wing, its feathers with narrow webs, and very stiff shafts, 



their bases hardly concealed by the very short tail- coverts. Erismatura. 



15. Tail-feathers not as above, their bases well hidden by the coverts. See 16. 



16. Feathering on forehead or lores reaching in front to or beyond hind end of nostril. Bill 



swollen at base and with large frontal processes. No speculum. Somateria. 



16. Feathering on lores or forehead not reaching forward of hind edge of nostril. See 17. 



17. Graduation of bill less than length of bill from nostril; width of nail of bill not more than 



one-third width of bill at middle. Marila. 



17. Graduation of tail much more than length of bill from nostril. See 18. 



18. Bill swollen at base, with a large fused nail, and no frontal appendages. Oidemia. 



18. Bill ordinary, not swollen nor appendaged. See 19. 



19. Nail of bill large, fused. Tail in male with its middle feathers very much lengthened. 



No speculum. Harelda. 



19. Nail of bill narrow, distinct, tail moderate. See 20. 



20. Nostril anterior, its front much nearer to the tip of the bill than to the loral feathers. 



Eyes yellow. Clang ula. 



20. Nostril sub-basal, its front much nearer to the loral feathers than to tip of bill. Eyes 

 brown. Charitonetta. 



Genus Mergus (Linn.) 



KEY TO SPECIES 



Contains two North American species: 



1. Nostril nearer middle of bill than base. Merganser. 

 1. Nostril near base of bill. Red-breasted Merganser. 



39. Mergus americanus (Cass.). MERGANSER; SHELDRAKE. 



Ad. cf Whole head and upper neck glossy greenish black; hindneck, secondaries, lesser 

 wing-coverts, and ends of greater ones white; back black, rump and tail ashy gray; breast and 

 belly white, delicately tinged with salmon. Ad. 9 and Im. Chin and upper throat white; 

 lower throat and entire top of the head rufous-brown; rest of upperparts and tail ashy gray; 

 speculum white; breast and belly white. L., 25.00; W., 10.50; Tar., 1.86; B., from N. 1.50. 

 (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. North America, breeding chiefly in Canada, wintering in most portions of the United 

 States and southern Canada. 



Range in North Carolina. Coastal region in winter, but may appear at that season where- 

 ever there are large bodies of water. 



The Sheldrakes are inhabitants of the trout streams and lakes of Canada, well 

 known to the voyageurs of those inland waters. Here they breed, hiding their nests 

 in the hollows of trees, and, it is said, taking their young to the earth in their bills 

 or sometimes allowing them to fall, the little ones working their wings to break 

 the force of the descent. In feeding, they swim rapidly beneath the surface, often 

 in the face of a strong current, and grasp their prey with their long serrated bills. 



