HOODED MERGANSER 415 
belongs, the Goosander’s being placed near the 
middle of the bill and that of the present species 
being placed near the base. 
The length of this species is from twenty- 
two to twenty-four inches; its extent from 
thirty-three to thirty-five inches. Weight from 
two to two and one-half pounds. 
Most of the Shelldrakes nest well beyond our 
borders, but breeding birds of this species are 
not uncommon in Maine. It is found also in 
northern Europe and Asia. 
HOODED MERGANSER. 
(Lophodytes cucullatus.) 
The smallest and most strikingly marked 
species of the family which we have in North 
America is our beautiful little Hooded Mergan- 
ser. In New England this is the least common 
of our Shelldrakes, and this species is found 
only in North America. 
In many localities of the south and west this 
bird is called the ‘‘Wood Duck.’’ Indeed it 
deserves the title nearly as well as does the 
bird which we have so named in New England, 
having the same habit of nesting in the hollows 
