320 
NEW-YORK FAUNA 
BIRDS. 
THE HOODED SHELDRAKE. 
Mergus cucullatus. 
PLATE CXX. FIG. 265. 
Mergus cucullatus , Linnjeus, p. 207. Hooded Merganser, Pennant, Arct. Zoo], Vol. 2, p. 538. 
M. id. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 8, p. 79, pi. 69, fig. 1. Bonaparte, Ann. Lyc. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 397. Audubon, 
B. of A. Vol. 6, p. 402, pi. 413. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 2, p.465. Giraud, Birds of Long 
island, p. 341. 
Characteristics. Bill blackish red ; feet dusky; a large circular compressed crest. Male, 
black ; beneath white ; crest black; white on each side behind. Female, 
sooty brown ; beneath white ; crest rusty ash, without the white. 
Length, 18‘0. 
Description. Bill short, deeper than broad at the base ; the teeth about twenty-five, not 
conical: transverse furrows on the palate. Crest large, erect, compressed, semicircular, ex¬ 
tending from the forehead to the occiput. Tarsus 1*2 in length. Tail short, subacute, of 
sixteen feathers. 
Color. Male, a triangular white patch extending from the eye to near the edge of the 
crest on each side : remainder of the crest, including the tips of all the feathers, greenish 
black. Bill blackish : feet greenish yellow. Sides and summit of the head, neck, bars on 
the shoulders, back, scapulars and tertials greenish black ; tips of the greater coverts, outer 
edges of the secondaries and all beneath white; flanks reddish, minutely waved with black. 
Female: Forehead, sides of the head and all the neck dark ash. Crest shorter, and of a 
uniform reddish brown. All above dark brown, with a tinge of ash, and minutely barred 
with black. Young, no black bars on the shoulders, nor white on the scarcely visible crest. 
Head, neck and breast pale brown, edged with paler. 
Length, 17-5-19’0. 
The Hairy-head, or Whistler, or Water Pheasant, as this species is called in this State, is 
not as common on the seacoast as either of the two preceding, but is more confined to the 
interior. It breeds from Carolina, through the interior along the great lakes, to high northern 
latitudes. It is said to range from 24° to 68° north latitude, and to occur only accidentally 
in Europe. Its eggs, food and habits, like the preceding. 
(EXTRA-LIMITAL.) 
M. albellus, Lin. (Auk. Ib. Vol. 6, p. 408.) Mirror black crossed with white. Bill and feet bluish. 
Tail of sixteen feathers. Male, white varied with black; crown white: a short band on each side 
of the hind neck bordering the crest, deep green. Female, cinereous; beneath white; crest reddish 
brown. Length, 17.5. Accidental in America. 
