716 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LAMELLIIiOSTnES — ANSEBES. 



with black on the back ; crown of head black ; a large white area on the wing formed by many 

 of the coverts and bases of the secondaries ; axillars also white. A 9 er young $ specimen 

 has the back blackish, spotted with yellowish-brown ; the general ferruginous color dappled 

 with dusky ; and two blackish stripes ou each side of head. Length about 13.00 ; wing .5.00 ; 

 tail 3.00 ; tarsus 1.00 ; culmen 1.40. A small and curious duck of C. and S. Am. and W. I., 

 accidental iu the U. S., as ou Lake Cliamplain and in Wisconsin (see Proc. Bost. Soo. Xat. 

 Hist., vi, 37.5 ; xiv, 151 ; Anier. Nat., v, 411 ; and Baird, B. N. A., 1858, 925). 



69. Subfamily IVIERCIN>E: Mergansers. 



Bill narrow, more or less nearly cylindrical, the nail hooked and overhanging, the 

 lamellje highly developed into prominent serrations, the nasal fossas lengthened and narrowed. 

 Excepting the character of the bill, the ' saw -bill ' or 'fishing-ducks' are simply Fuligulince , 

 sonrewhat modified in adaptation to a more exclusively animal regimen ; the lamella of the 

 bill become detainers of large objects, not sifters or strainers of minute things. The principal 

 point in their economy is ability to pursue fish under water, like Cormorants, Loons, and 

 other birds of lower orders. The nature of their fjod renders their flesh rank and unpalatable; 

 in buyiug a ' duck,' notice the bOl, that it be not cylindric, hooked, and saw-toothed; the 

 flap of the hind toe is as in any Sea Duck ; the tarsi are much compressed. The gizzard 

 is rather less muscitlar than in most ducks ; the intestines and their co3ca are shorter ; the 

 syringeal capsule of the $ is very large, irregular, partly membranous ; the trachea has 

 other dilatations (fig. 3). Birds of this grou)i inhabit fresh as well as salt water, and are 

 abundant in individuals If not in species. There are about 8 species, chiefly of the Northern 

 Hemisphere, but several occur in South America: we have 3, commonly and perhaps iiroperly 

 referred to 2 genera, Mergiis and Lophodijies. 

 300. BIER'GUS. (Lat. weriyMS, a diver ; viergo, I merge in.) Mergansers. Fi.shixg Ducks. 

 Saw-bills. Bill as above said. Nostrils median or sub-basal. Tarsi compressed, anteri- 

 orly scutellate, with snuiUcr plates on sides and behind, one-half to tw<j-thirds as long as middle 

 toe and ckav. Hind toe lobate. Tail rounded, usually one-half or more the length of the 

 pointed wings. Head usually crested. 



Anali/sis of Subgenera and Species. 



Bill not shorter than liead, mostly ^e^l. Serrations of bill acute, recurved, claw-like. Tarsus about two- 

 thirds as long as middle too. Tail about half as long as wings. Crest low, flimsy, occipital, if any. 

 Heail green or brown. (Meegus,) 



Nostrils near middle of bill. Frontal feathers beyond those on side of bill. Crest scarcely developed. 



(^ with breast ruicolored merf/anser 743 



Nostrils near base of bill. Frontal feathers not beyond those on side of bill. Crest better developed. 



^ with breast and sides colored serrator 744 



Bill shorter than head, mostly black. Serrations of bill low, oblique, not hooked. Tarsus about half as 

 long as middle toe. Tail more than half as long as wing. Crest of (f highly developed, erect, com- 

 pressed, semicircular, coronal as well as occipital. (Lophodvtes.) 

 Nostrils near base of bill. Frontal feathers produced beyond those on sides of bill . . . cucuUatus 745 



743. M. mergan'ser. (Lat. mergvs and miser, diver-goose. Fig. 499.) Merganser. Goos- 

 ander. Nostrils near middle of bill. Frontal feathers extending acutely on culmen about 

 half way from those on side of bill to nostrils; loral feathers sweeping in nearly vertical line 

 across side of base of upper mandible, about opposite those on side of lower mandible. Head 

 scarcely crested, merely a line of little lengthened feathers along occiput and nape, better 

 developed, however, in ? than in $. Adult $ : Bill and feet vermilion-red in breeding 

 season, with black hook ; iris carmine. Head and neck splendid dark green. Under parts 

 salmon-c(dored, the flanks and lower liclly mai'bled ov watered M'ith dusky. Upper parts 

 glossy-black, fading to ashy fin rump and tail ; surface of wing mostly pure white, crossed by 

 a black bar formed liy bases of greater coverts. Primaries and outer secondaries black, inter- 



