718 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — STEGANOPOBES. 



throat and under parts white, shaded with ashy-gray along the sides. Upper parts plumbeous- 

 gray, the feathers with paler edges ; white of wing restricted to a patch formed by the ends 

 of the greater coverts, and much of the outer secondaries ; not divided by a black bar. No 

 peculiar feathers in front of wing. Length about 24.00 ; extent 3i. 00; wing 8.50-9.50 ; tail 

 4.00 ; tarsus 1.60 ; middle toe and claw 2.60 ; bill 2.20 on culmen, 2.60 on gape. Young 

 $ like 9 . Nestlings in down curi(jusly patched. S. Am. at large, more numerous than 

 the g(josauder. U. S. abundantly in winter, and breeding in many places as well as farther 

 north. Also European, etc. Nest on ground, down-lined; eggs 8-10, elliptical, buff, 2.50 

 X 1.65. 

 745. M. (L.) cuculla'tus. (Lat. cucullatus, wearing a hood). Hooded Merganser. Bill 

 sliorter than head. Ntistrils in its basal half. Frontal feathers extending far beyond those on 



side of bill, these beyond 

 those on lower mandi- 

 ble. A magnificent erect 

 crest, compressed, semi- 

 circular in outline, in 

 both sexes, but in 9 

 smaller, and less strict. 

 Adult (? : Bill black ; 

 eyes yellow ; feet light 

 brown, with dusky claws. 

 Head, neck, and upper 

 parts black, changing to 

 Fig. boo. — Bill of Eed-breasted Mer^ni-.(.r nit si^l (Unit JlI E o) Ivcnm on lower In ■!- ■ 



crest elegantly centred with snowy white ; lower fore-neck and under parts white, the sides 

 regularly and finely waved with brownish-red and black ; crissum waved with dusky. Lining 

 of wings and axUlars white. Enlarged white doubly hlack-barred feathers in front of wing. 

 A white speculum, with two black bars, the white being on outer webs of secondaries and ends 

 of these and greater coverts; inner secondaries witli white central stripe. Young <J like 9- 

 9 ; Bill dusky, with orange base Ijehjw. Head and neck gravish-chestnut, darlcer brown on 

 crown, the throat and under parts whitish ; l)a(^k and sides dusky-brown, the latter not undu- 

 lated, the feathers generally with paler edges. No black and white bars before wing ; white 

 of wing restricted or impure. Length 16.50-18.00; extent about 25.00; wing 7.00-8.00; 

 tail 4.00 ; tarsus 1.20 ; middle toe and claw 2.25 ; bill 1.50 along culmen, 2.00 along gape. 

 N. Am. at large ; common ; breeds at large in U. S., as well as farther north; winters in 

 U. S. Europe, etc. This beautiful species appears to usually if not always nest in trees, like 

 the wood duck and some others, the young being transported to the water in the beak of the 

 mother. Eggs 6-8, 1.75 Xl.35, eUiptical, buff-colored. 



XI. Order STEGANOPODES : Totipalmate Birds. 



Feet totipalmate, with three full wel)s fas in fig. 52, for example l ; liind toe semi-lateral, 

 larger and lower clown than in other water birds, connected u:ith the inner toe hij a complete web 

 renclnng from tip to tip. Nostiils minute, rudimentary, or entirely abortive. A gular pouch. 

 Bill not membranous nor lamellate ; tomia sometimes serrate ; usually, a long sulcus on upper 

 mandible reaching alongside the culmen nearly to tip of bill, which is commonly hooked with 

 a more or less distinct nail ; mouth much cleft. 



This is a definite and perfectly natural group, which will be immediately recognized by 

 the foregoing characters, one of which, the complete webbing of the hallux, is not elsewhere 



