494 Anatidce. 



plumage of the adult male ; and they seem to have the power 

 (says Sir K Payne- Gallwey) when rising from the bottom of the 

 water, to spring on wing into the air with the same upward 

 shoot ; nor do they appear to hesitate a couple of seconds on the 

 surface to recover breath ere flying, as is the case with Scaup 

 and Pochard.* In Sweden it is known as Knipa. 



202. SMEW (Mergus albellus). 



I am again indebted to the Rev. G. Marsh for the first informa- 

 tion that the Smew Merganser has been killed in Wiltshire. 

 Two other instances have since been recorded by Mr. Grant, 

 which came into his hands for preservation, one from Fy field, 

 Enford, in January, 1876, and the other in December, 1879, but 

 where it was killed I am not able to say. Though admitted at 

 the end of the great family of Ducks, and partaking of their 

 general habits and appearance, the Mergansers (of which this is 

 one), differs from them, in being provided with a beak, both 

 mandibles of which are toothed or serrated, the saw-like teeth 

 inclining backwards, the better to prevent the escape of the 

 slippery prey. The form of the beak is also long and extremely 

 narrow, and it is terminated with a very strong hooked nail. 

 Armed with this admirable implement, the Mergansers have no 

 difficulty in supplying themselves with fish, which constitutes 

 the bulk of their food : moreover, they can swim and dive and 

 fly with great quickness, but, from the backward position of their 

 legs, are awkward on shore. In swimming they appear deeply 

 immersed in the water, the weight and flattened form of the 

 body giving them that appearance, the head, neck and back only 

 being visible. In diving, they seem to fly beneath the surface 

 with great rapidity, and they remain for a long time below, and 

 on rising for breath they merely raise the bill above water, and 

 then dive again, without causing any perceptible disturbance of 

 the surface. Montagu says it is called in Devonshire the ' White 

 Widgeon,' and sometimes the ' Vare ' (or Weasel) ' Widgeon,' from 

 the supposed similitude about the head to a Weasel or Vare, as 

 * * The Fowler in Ireland,' p. 110. 



