BIRDS OF THE WEST 109 



AMERICAN MERGANSER. 



Many people call it the "Saw-bill Duck," some call it the 

 "Fish Duck" and others the " Shelldrake. " None of the names 

 are calculated to whet one's appetite, yet the names sound far 

 better than the duck tastes. 



Last fall a friend of mine came proudly up the street with 

 a string of ducks that tested his strength. Rushing to him to see 

 what he had I found no two alike. There were a mallard, a 

 green-winged teal, a Ijald-pate, a pin-tail, a blue-bill, a redhead, a 

 canvas-liack, a spoon-bill and a merganser. It seemed rather odd 

 that there should be no duplication, but it shows how thoroughly 

 we are in the path of duck migration. 



As I enthused over them and pointed out their beauty and 

 peculiarities, he became interested and as I gave more time to 

 the merganser than all the others, because of its peculiar bill 

 and flashy colors, he thought he would delight me by offering it to 

 me for mj^ supper. He did that very thing ! Now, few delicacies 

 are sweeter to me than a good, fat, juicy wild duck done just so 

 that a suggestion of red blood follows the knife when it is cut, 

 but my admiration for a merganser ends just where the feathers 

 penetrate the skin, so I refused to rob him of his choicest duck 

 and took two others in lieu thereof, namely a bald-pate and a blue- 

 bill. Give me those and you may have your canvas-backs and 

 mallards. 



Why does the merganser taste so? Because he eats small 

 fishes and frogs, and fishes and frogs like onions and cabbage are 

 not so very good second-hand. The merganser being able to pur- 

 sue and catch a fish under water becomes very muscular and 

 when you get both kinds of strength in your meat, it becomes 

 too strong for any use. 



There is every reason to believe that the merganser nests 

 very rarely below the line of the British possessions. Mrs. Mer- 

 ganser's reputation as a housewife and mother is above reproach 

 and is similar to that of the wood duck that goes into seclusion 

 during the nesting season, using a tree-hole for a home and lining 

 it with the down she plucks from her own breast. Meanwhile the 

 old man goes away into still deeper seclusion and changes his 

 pretty garments for a new suit. 



