38 



DUCKS, GEESE AND SMANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



The distance from the nostril to the tip of the bill is less than 1.50 inches in this species, 

 and the female may ahvaj'S be distinguished from the Eed-breasted Merganser by this charac- 

 ter, as in that species the distance from the nostril to tip of bill is more than 1.50 inches. 



The American Merganser, Sheldrake, or Goosander, as it is variously called 

 in different localities, is generally distributed throughout North America, from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is not uncommon on the Atlantic coast, from 

 Maine to Georgia, and occasionally a few birds wander as far south as Florida. 

 It breeds in the northern United States south to Pennsylvania and Colorado. 

 The nest is a little mat of leaves or grass placed on a ledge, or occasionally in 

 a hole in a tree. The eggs are from seven to ten, of a pale yellow buff color. 



riERQANSER SERRATOR (Z/««.). 

 Red'breasted Merganser. 



Shelukake. 





MerKMnKcr Rf^rr.-itor (niiilc). 



AdnJt male : Head and upper 

 throat, Idack, tinged with greenish; 

 a white ring around the neck, not 

 always well defined; breast, rufous, 

 streaked with black; lower breast 

 and bell.v, white; the sides and rump, 

 delicately pencilled black. Distance 

 from nostril to tip of bill, more 

 than 1.50. 



Length, 28 ; wing, !) ; tarsus, 1.90; 

 bill, 2..30. 



Femah'. and young male: Head, 

 brownish; throat, pale buft'; back, 

 gray; under parts of the body are 

 white, and speculum is white. 



Length, 21; wing, 8.80: tarsus, 

 1.90; bill, 2.,50. 



The Red-breasted Merganser 

 is a cosmopolitan species occur- 

 ring in Europe and Asia, as 

 well as the Western Hemisphere. It occurs throughout North America, 

 rano-ing in \vintcr southwaid to the Gulf of Mexico and Cuba, and is a 

 common species on the Atlantic coast, being the well-known "Sheldrake" of 

 o-unners. It breeds from Minnesota and Maine, northward ; the nest is placed 



