58 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



other ducks occasionally draw near with apparent intention of alighting among 

 them, these mergansers always settled at some little distance away. In fact, their 

 actions on such occasions have even left a doubt with us as to whether the decoys 

 were really the occasion of their approach. In some places, however, decoys are 

 specially painted to be used in hunting this bird when other ducks become scarce. 

 In flight they present an easy mark, but when resting on the water it is a far more 

 difficult task to shoot them, so low do they sit in the water. They arrive on the 

 North Carolina coast in October and usually depart in April. 



The flesh is strong-tasting and fishy and not highly regarded as food, but a great 

 many are killed, nevertheless, during the early spring, which is the season of their 

 greatest abundance. There is a saying on Cape Hatteras, "One old Fisherman 

 Duck will make nine gallons of soup " a tribute indeed to the potency of the highly 

 flavored flesh. 



Sherman and H. H. Brimley observed Red-breasted Mergansers daily for a week 

 on White Lake in Bladen County during December, 1910. On one occasion several 

 stooled to Black Duck decoys. 



Genus Lophodytes (Reichenb.) 

 41. Lophodytes cucullatus (Linn.}. HOODED MERGANSER. 



Ad. o". Front part of large circular crest black; remaining part white, bordered by black; 

 rest of head, the neck and back black; breast and belly white; sides cinnamon-rufous, finely 

 barred with black. Ad. 9 . Upper throat white; head, neck and upper breast grayish brown, 

 more or less tinged with cinnamon, especially on the small crest: lower breast and belly white; 



FIG. 33. HOODED MERGANSER (adult male). 



sides grayish brown; back fuscous. Im. cf. Similar, but throat blackish. L., 17.50; W., 7.50; 

 Tar., 1.10; B., 1.45. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. North America, breeding locally throughout its range, but quite rare and local in 

 the breeding season in the South. 



Range in North Carolina. Whole State in winter, most common on the coast. 



