60 BIRDS 



sion of a male hooded merganser is that of an extremely 

 large-headed bird, so close and thick is the hood of white 

 distinctly bordered with black. The hood disappearing 

 after nesting season, it is then often mistaken for the red- 

 breasted merganser. 



They feed by pursuing and capturing fish and other 

 marine life beneath the water. They manifest a decided 

 preference for fresh running water, and are regularly 

 observed along the rivers of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, 

 and Michigan. 



Like the other mergansers, the birds avoid the marshes 

 during the breeding season, and select a hollow stub or log 

 in which to deposit their eggs. Frequently this cavity is 

 in a tree growing in or near a secluded spot along some 

 woodland watercourse. Like the wood duck, the entrance 

 to the nest appears too small to admit the bird's body. The 

 writer has witnessed a female merganser fly directly into 

 a cavity containing her nest and eggs, without ahghting at 

 the entrance. 



The shell of the pure white eggs is extremely thick. 

 The writer has thirteen taken in April in Montana. The 

 bird had removed considerable down from her breast, and 

 this was placed about the eggs, which enabled them to 

 incubate during the absence of the parent. 



MALLARD 



The Mallard, or Greenhead, is a large, handsome duck, 

 common during the migrations to all temperate North 

 America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific; nesting usually 



