88 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



with rusty) in adult ; tail-coverts and crissum grayish, barred 



with dusky and whitish Philacte. (Page 118.) 



a 2 . Neck as long as or longer than body. (Subfamily Cygninm.) 



Largest of American Anatidce (length more than three feet) ; color entirely 

 pure white, with black bill and feet, in adult, grayish in young. 



Olor. (Page 120.) 

 i 



Genus MERGANSER Brisson. (Page 84, pi. XXL, fig. 4.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Adult male with head and upper neck greenish black, 

 the occiput crested ; rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, plain ash-gray ; rest of upper 

 parts mainly pied black and whitish ; lower parts rich creamy white or pale salmon- 

 color. Adult female, with head and upper neck cinnamon-brownish (occiput crested, 

 as in the male), chin and part of throat white ; upper parts grayish, with some 

 white on wings ; lower parts buffy white. 



a 1 . Distance between nostril and nearest feathering at base of upper mandible much 

 greater than height of upper mandible at base ; feathering at base of upper 

 mandible, on sides, projecting very slightly forward, and not forming a 

 distinct angle. 

 b l . No visible black bar across white of wing-coverts. Adult male: Head and 

 upper neck greenish black, the top of the latter with a soft " bushy" 

 crest, conspicuous only when erected; chest and other lower parts rich 

 creamy white, or (especially in freshly-killed specimens) delicate pale 

 salmon-color; wing 10.70-11.00, culmen 2.05-2.30, tarsus 1.90-2.00, 

 middle toe 2.35-2.60. Adult female : Head and upper neck tawny brown 

 or cinnamon, the chin and throat whitish, the occiput with a conspicuous 

 pointed crest ; upper parts chiefly ash-gray, with white on secondaries 

 and greater wing-coverts; wing 9.75-10.25, culmen 1.80-1.90, tarsus 

 1.65-1.80, middle toe 2.35. Hab. Northern parts of the eastern hemi- 

 sphere, from western Europe to Kamtschatka. 



M. merganser Linn. Merganser. 1 

 J a . A very conspicuous black bar across white of wing-coverts. (Plumage 

 not otherwise essentially different from that of M. merganser, but feath- 

 ering at base of bill having a quite distinct outline.) Downy young : 

 Upper half of head, and hind-neck, rusty brown, more reddish on the 

 latter, where encroaching on sides of neck; remaining upper parts hair- 

 brown, relieved by four white spots ; lower parts, including rest of head 

 and neck, white ; a stripe on lower half of lores, white ; beneath this, a 

 narrower stripe of deep brown, and a similar, but broader, brown stripe 

 on upper half of lores. Male : Length 25.00-27.00, wing 10.50-11.25, 

 culmen 1.90-2.20, tarsus 1.90-2.00, middle toe 2.40-2.50. Female : Length 



1 Mergut merganser Linn., S. N. ed. 10, i. 1758, 129. Merganser merganser Stejn., Bull. TJ. S. Nat. Mus. 

 No. 29, 1885, 176. 



