20 NORTH AMERICAN" DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. 



arrival at Montreal is April 5; Ottawa, Ontario, April 16; Prince 

 Edward Island, April 21". The first merganser was seen on Hamilton 

 River, Ungava, May 28. At Heron Lake, Minnesota, the average 

 date of arrival is March 26 (earliest March 17, 1886); average at 

 Aweme, Manitoba, April 11. The larger number have left the winter 

 range by early April; but along the middle Atlantic coast a few are 

 seen in May, while on the Massachusetts coast nonbreeders occur all 

 summer. 



Eggs have been taken at Kingston, Ontario, April 10, 1902; at God- 

 bout, Quebec, May 12, 1884; on Hamilton River, Ungava, June 25; 

 eggs incubated one week, on Lake Tagish, Yukon, June 30, 1899; 

 young in northern California May 21. 



Fail migration. — A few of this species start south in August (Woods 

 Hole, Mass., August 26, 1890), but in general the American merganser 

 is a late migrant, passing south only when forced by winter storms. 

 The average date of arrival on the Massachusetts coast is October 5, 

 and on Chesapeake Bay October 15. The average date when the last 

 are seen on Prince Edward Island is November 1 ; Montreal, Novem- 

 ber 6; Ottawa, Ontario, November 31. 



Merganser serrator (Linn.)- Red-breasted Merganser. 



Breeding range. — Most of the summer home of this species in. the 

 "Western Hemisphere lies north of the United States, though a few 

 nest in Maine (Houlton, Magalloway River, Isle au Haute), and farther 

 south on Sable Island, Nova Scotia; also in northern New York (Adi- 

 rondacks), Michigan, Wisconsin (Green Bay), Minnesota (St. Paul), 

 and probably in Oregon (Crooked River and Camp Harney). The 

 breeding range extends far north to Greenland (Scoresby Sound, Uper- 

 navik), Cumberland Gulf, Mackenzie (Fort Anderson), Alaska (Icy 

 Cape), and the northern coast of Siberia. The species breeds commonly 

 on the whole western coast of Alaska, the Near Islands, the Yukon 

 Basin, and south to southern British Columbia. It breeds commonly 

 also in northern Europe and northern Asia, whence it retires in winter 

 to southern Europe and central Asia. 



Winter range. — A single specimen was taken near Habana, Cuba, 

 in December, 1891, and this seems to be the only record south of the 

 eastern United States. The species is not rare in winter in Florida 

 and along the Gulf coast to Texas; thence it is quite rare in New 

 Mexico and Arizona, but is common throughout the whole of Califor- 

 nia and south to Lower California (La Paz). It is common in winter 

 on the Atlantic coast as far as Maine, and remains around the Gulf of 

 Saint Lawrence until the bays freeze. It is not uncommon even in 

 Greenland during the winter. In the interior it braves the winter on 

 the ■ Great Lakes and north to Wisconsin, Nebraska, Colorado, and 

 Utah; north on the Pacific coast to southern British Columbia; it is 

 casual on the Hawaiian Islands and the Bermudas. 



