NOMONYX DOMINICA : ST. DOMINGO DUCK. 33 1 



South America and West Indies, accidental in the 

 United States. The only known instances are Lake 

 Champlain (Cabot, Proc. B. S. N. H., vi, 375) ; Wiscon- 

 sin (Kumlein; ibid, xiv, 154; Am. Nat. v, 441). 



MERGANSER ; GOOSANDER ; FISH DUCK. 



Mergus merganser L. 



Chars. Bill not shorter than head, mostly red ; nostrils nearly 

 median ; frontal feathers reaching beyond those on sides of bill. 

 Male with the head scarcely crested, glossy green ; back and 

 wings black and white, latter crossed by one black bar ; under 

 parts salmon-colored. Length, about 24.00; extent, 36.00 ; wing, 

 11.00 ; tail, 5.00 ; bill, 2.25 ; tarsus, 1.75. Female smaller; occip- 

 ital crest better developed, but still flimsy; head and neck reddish- 

 brown ; black parts of the male ashy-gray ; less white on the 

 wing ; under parts less tinted with salmon. 



The three species of Merganser which occur in New 

 England, as in most other parts of the United States, 

 have substantially the same character, being chiefly 

 migrants and winter residents, but also breeding in 

 northern sections. Mr. Boardman records the present 

 species as breeding in trees about Calais, Maine, and 

 Mr. J. H. Sage notes its breeding at Moosehead Lake, 

 in Maine (Orn. and Ool, vi, 1881, p. 51). They are 

 all chiefly maritime, but also found inland. All three 

 breed in Maine, at least as far south as Umbagog Lake, 

 where eggs have been procured, and Mr. Allen thinks 

 Audubon had good grounds for stating that the present 

 species has bred in Massachusetts. 



