586 HOODED MERGANSER. 
long and sharp, bony teeth, placed like those of a saw, with their points 
directed backwards ; the tongue turned up, and, viewed on its lower 
* side, .ooks very much like a human finger with its nail. This confor- 
mation of the mandibles, exposing two rows of strong teeth, has, 
probably, given rise to the epithet Laughing, bestowed on one of its 
varieties, though it might, with as much propriety, have been named 
the Grinning Goose. ; ; 
The specimen from which the above figure and description was 
taken, was shot on the Delaware, below Philadelphia, on the 15th of 
February, and on dissection proved to be a male; the windpipe had no 
labyrinth, but, for an inch or two before its divarication into the lungs, 
was inflexible, not extensile, like the rest, and rather wider in diameter. 
The gullet had an expansion before entering the stomach, which last 
was remarkably strong, the two great, grinding muscles being nearly 
five inches in diameter. The stornach was filled with fragments of the 
roots of reeds, and fine sand. The intestines measured eight feet in 
length, and were not remarkably thick. The liver was small. For 
the young and female of this species, see Fig. 284. 
Latham observes that this species is very numerous at Hudson’s 
Bay, that they visit Severn River in May, and stay a fortnight, but 
go farther north to breed’; they return to Severn Fort the beginning 
of September, and stay till the middle of October, when they depart 
for the south, and are observed to be attended by their young, in flocks 
innumerable. They seem to occupy also the western side of America, 
as they were seen at Aoonalashka,* as well as Kamtschatka.t White 
Brant, with black tips to their wings, were also shot by Captains Lewis 
and Clark’s exploring party, near the mouth of the Columbia River, 
which were probably the same as the present species.t Mr. Pennant 
says, “ They are taken by the Siberians in nets, under which they are 
decoyed by a person covered with a white skin, and crawling on all 
fours; when, others. driving them, these stupid birds, mistaking him for 
their leader, follow him, when they are entangled in the nets, or led 
into a kind of. pond made for the purpose!” We might here, with 
propriety, add — This wants confirmation. 
—_—-—— 
HOODED MERGANSER. —MERGUS CUCULLATUS. — Fie. 280. 
L'Harle huppé de Virginie, Briss. vii. Me 258, 8. Pl. enl. 935.— L’Harle cou- 
ronné, Buff. viii, p. 280. — Round-crested Duck, Edw. pl. 360. — Catesby, i. pl. 94, 
—Arct. Zool. No. 467. — Lath. Syn. 10, p. 426. —- Peale’s Museum, No. 2930. 
MERGUS CUCULLATUS, — Lixnzxus 
Mergus ¢ucullatus Cur. Regn. Anim. i. . 540. — Bonap. Synop. p. 397. —Selby, 
: “Tilust. Brit. Ornish. pl. 58. si : 
Tus species, on the sea-coast, is usually called the Hairy Head. 
They are more common, however, along our lakes and fresh-water 
* Evuis’s Narratroe. + History of Kamdtschatka. 
$ zass’s Journal, p. 161. 
& ’ 
