ANATIDA. 475 
THE SMEW. 
MERGUS ALBELLUS, Linneus. 
The Smew, or Smee—sometimes called Nun, from the sharply 
contrasted plumage of the male—is the smallest member of the 
genus, and the least numerous of the three “Saw-bills” which 
frequent our islands. Young birds and females, known to fisher- 
men as Red-headed Smews, are not uncommon in winter along the 
eastern side of England and Scotland, but males in full dress are 
seldom met with, as they keep further out at sea, and rarely approach 
the shore, except in very severe weather. In the south this species 
is of tolerably regular occurrence on the sheltered estuaries and 
inland waters ; but it is comparatively scarce along the west coast 
of England and Wales, and also of Scotland, save round the Inner 
‘Hebrides. In the Orkneys it is not uncommon, but it is seldom 
seen in the Shetlands. To Ireland it is an irregular visitor—chiefly 
to fresh-water—in the cold season. 
This species is not known in the Feroes, Iceland or Greenland, 
and even in winter is seldom found on the coast of Norway or of 
that portion of Sweden which lies outside the Baltic ; though on 
its south-westerly migrations it skirts the Atlantic sea-board of 
Europe and reaches Morocco. The extensive lakes of Switzerland 
