6 



Audubon. No one else has ever met with it; and this single straggler (in respect of which 

 Mr. Audubon may have even been mistaken) can hardly warrant its being considered an 

 American bird. Wilson, in speaking of the abundance of the Smew in the Northern United 

 States, probably had the Butterball (Bucephala albeola) in view." 



In its habits the Smew resembles the Red-breasted Merganser, but appears much fonder of 

 fresh water than that species, being frequently met with in rivers, inland lakes, estuaries, &c. It 

 flies with great rapidity, and is an exceedingly expert diver, remaining below the surface for 

 long, and darting about under water with the greatest swiftness and ease. I have often watched 

 one kept in confinement at the Zoological Gardens in this city, diving in the tanks after small 

 fish, and been astonished at the quickness with which it propels itself under water. It feeds on 

 small fish and marine animals of various sorts, as well as small frogs and various species of water- 

 insects. In the fresh water it devours large numbers of young fish, especially the young of the 

 trout and the eel ; and Naumann says that it feeds on sand-eels, small fish, on Crangon vulgaris, 

 Athernia hepsetus, Sec. Sec. During the breeding-season it inhabits lakes and rivers, never 

 appearing to be met with on or near the sea-coast at that season of the year. For long the 

 breeding-habits of the present species were enveloped in utter obscurity ; and, indeed, until the 

 late Mr. Wolley discovered its breeding-haunts and obtained its eggs in Lapland, no one appeared 

 to know whether it placed its nest on the ground or in a tree ; in fact Temminck says that it 

 breeds on the borders of lakes and rivers. Mr. Wolley published a detailed account of his 

 discovery in the Ibis (1859, pp. 69-76), which, as it is the only authentic and full account of 

 the nidification of the present species, I will offer no apology for giving in extenso, as follows : — 

 "The first year I was in Lapland, 1853, it was important for me to find out the native (that is, 

 the Finnish) names for the birds of the country. Of the Ducks generally I soon learnt to under- 

 stand to which species each name referred ; but there was one called Ungilo, concerning which 

 I was for a long time in the dark. It was described as breeding in the holes of trees, or in 

 tyllas (that is, nest-boxes). It was a smaller bird than the Sotka (Golden-eye), but was able to 

 turn that bird out of its hole, if it wanted it for itself; though some accounts told the reverse 

 story. It had formerly been found not unfrequently on the Muonio river, and especially on the 

 lakes through which the little Jeris-joki runs. On the former river, a little above the inlet of 

 the Palo-joki, there is even an islet called after it, Ungilon-saari, on which, though there are 

 still tyllas, the bird has not been known for a good many years. In the course of time I learned 

 that the bird had a beak like a KosJcilo (Merganser); and the colours of the male were described 

 to me in a way that left no doubt it was the Smew. Still it required some selection of evidence 

 to hold the opinion firmly ; for instance, a woman talking to me imitated the cry of the bird, in 

 doing which she used the syllables ' u-u-ungel ' with the music of the spring call of the Long- 

 tailed Duck, and by her subsequent description clearly showed that that was the bird she meant, 

 though it is usually known by quite another name, identical with, and perhaps borrowed from, 

 the Swedish, Alle. This suggested to me that the name Ungilo may have been originally applied 

 to the Long-tailed Duck, inasmuch as we find, in Strom's 'Description of Sandmor,' that the Long- 

 tailed Duck is called Angle-mager (Hook-maker) on parts of the Norwegian coast, doubtless from 

 its cry, connected with the time of its appearance, when the sea-fishing begins. 



" Nothing is more common than one and the same name being applied to different birds in 



