136 OBSERVATIONS ON CANADIAN BIRDS. 
Nearly allied to the Ducks is the small family of Mergansers, which : 
contains only three species* peculiar to the American continent, all 
of whieh are, at certain seasons of the year found round the shores 
of the bay. The birds of this class subsist chiefly by fishing, and 
have the bill compressed and deeply serrated, to enable them to hold 
their slippery prey. They are also furnished with a crest, the use of 
which has been a matter of conjecture among naturalists, one of whom 
suggests that the elongated feathers of the head being acted on by the 
water, serve to give precision to the blow when striking the fish, much 
in the same way as a feather acts on the shaft of an arrow. The most 
beautiful of this class is the hooded merganser, whose fine erectile 
crest extends from the bill right over to the hind head. With us this 
species is never abundant, but a few pairs are seen every spring as 
soon as the ice begins to shove from the sides of the bay. Their stay 
at this season is short, as they soon pass on to the north to breed; in 
the fall they again pay us a visit accompanied by their young, and 
follow their avocation round the bay till they are frozen out, when 
they move off to the south to spend the winter. 
Two species of Tern visit the bay in spring, and during winter 
three species of Gull haye been observed at the beach; of the latter 
class the most conspicuous is the Great Black-backed Gull, which 
arrives from the north at the approach of winter, and leaves again on 
the first appearance of spring. The word Gull, as applied to the 
human species is often used to denote dullness or stupidity, but such 
a meaning could not be suggested by the character of the birds to 
which it belongs, as there is not, among all our water-fowl, a more 
vigilant species than that which we have just referred to; it never 
comes within gun-shet, and the only specimen ever procured at the 
beach, met his death by following the example of an eagle in tasting 
a poisoned carcase, a few minutes atter which, both were stretehed 
dead upon .the ice. 
Lowest on the list as being least perfect in their organization, are 
the Grebes, a class of birds which frequent the borders of our smaller 
lakes and_ponds, finding their sustenance chiefly in the shallow waters, 
which abound with water-plants. Three different species of this genus 
probability is, that they are birds, which, from being wounded, or otherwise in ill health, 
have been unable to perform the journey northwards, and prefer spending the summer in 
retirement, joining their comrades on their return in the fall. 
-* The Smew, or White Nun, is mentioned in some works a3 an American bird, but its oc- 
«currence is very rare and considered accidental. 
