694 



purple, except on the sides of the head, where the reflections are bottle-green ; feathers on the crown 

 and nape very narrow and elongated, forming a conspicuous crest ; central portion and upper part of 

 the lower neck pure white, with a narrow line of black behind; back, scapulars, and elongated inner 

 secondaries velvety black, with purple reflections, a narrow portion on the fore part of the back reddish 

 brown marked with black ; primaries dark brownish grey, lighter on the inner web ; secondaries, larger 

 and median wing-coverts white, the secondaries on the outer web bordered with black, and the larger 

 wing-coverts black at the base, forming a line across the wing ; smaller coverts ashy brown, lower rump 

 and upper tail-coverts white, narrowly vermiculated with black, the upper part of the rump being sooty 

 brown, here and there vermiculated with white ; tail dull greyish brown, with rather lighter edges ; 

 upper part of the breast pale reddish brown, marked with blackish brown, upper part of the flanks 

 glossy black, the feathers having oval white centres, or all, except a broad margin white, rest of the 

 flanks white, vermiculated with black ; rest of underparts very pale delicate reddish buff, which fades 

 nearly to white soon after death ; bill bright vermilion, with the unguis black, the ridge of the upper 

 mandible dusky ; iris bright red ; feet bright vermilion, the claws reddish at the base and grey towards 

 the end. Total length about 22 inches, culmen 2 - 4, wing 95, tail 3*1, tarsus 2'0. 



Adult Male in summer. In the plumage that the male of this species assumes for a short time during the 

 summer it resembles the female, but is distinguishable by its larger size, the different colour of the 

 abdomen, and of the scapulars. 



Young Male. Closely resembles the female, especially when the latter is in fresh plumage with a greyish 

 tinge, but can usually be distinguished by its larger size and shorter crest. 



Adult Female (Archangel, 14th May) . Head and neck dull reddish brown, darker on the crown ; chin and 

 throat, except at the sides, dull white ; crest elongated, but less so in the centre than above and below ; 

 back and upper parts generally dark ash, with rather paler margins to the feathers ; primary quills, 

 primary coverts, and inner secondaries brownish black ; middle secondaries white, except at the base, 

 where they are blackish brown ; larger coverts broadly tipped with white ; smaller wing-coverts dull 

 dark grey ; tail as in the male ; underparts white, the lower fore neck tinged with grey ; flanks sooty 

 grey, some of the feathers tipped with fulvous ; soft parts as in the male, but paler and duller. In size 

 the female runs smaller than the male, measuring — culmen 23, wing 8*5, tail 2 - 7, tarsus 1"8. 



This Duck, like the other European species of Mergus, has a very extensive range, being found 

 in Northern Europe, Asia, and America during the summer, and, in the winter season, met with 

 as far south as Northern Africa and China in the Palsearctic, and the Southern States of North 

 America in the Nearctic Eegion. 



In Great Britain it is chiefly found during the winter and autumn, though it occurs not 

 uncommonly in some parts of Scotland during the breeding-season. It is met with in almost all 

 parts of England, both on the coast and on inland waters, but does not appear to be anywhere 

 very numerous. I have observed it both on the east and south coasts of England ; and Mr. Cecil 

 Smith writes to me from Somerset as follows: — " It is an occasional autumn and winter visitant, 

 both on our coast and to inland waters ; the greater number of Somerset specimens which I have 

 seen have been young males not arrived at adult plumage, or females. I have also found this 

 bird tolerably common in Guernsey in autumn and winter; on the 8th of November, 1871, I 

 shot one out of a flock of five or six that flew over my head as I was scrambling over the rocks 

 between Cobo and the Vale ; and beautiful these birds looked as they flew up from the sea, their 



