78 



NESTS AND EGO-S OF 



cavities with fine grasses, leaves, 

 feathers and down. In some locali- 

 ties the bird is called "Water Pheas- 

 ant" and "Hairy-head." Anyone 

 can recognize the male of this spe- 

 cies by its striking black and white 

 fcolors and its magnificent, erect, 

 compressed, semi-circular black and 

 white crest. The general color of 

 the head, neck, sides and upper por- 

 tions of the female are grayish- 

 brown; white beneath, and the crest 

 is not so prominent. As many as 18 

 eggs have been found in a single 

 nest; ten or twelve, however, appear 

 to be the most common numbers, 



and often as few as six are laid. They are of a delicate pearly-white, rounded oval 



and measure from 2.05 to 2.25 long by 1.70 to 1.75 broad. 



131. Hooded Merganser, Male. 



[131. 1.] SMEW. Mergus alhellus Linn. Geog. Dist. — In summer. Northern 

 Europe and Asia; in winter, south to the Mediteranian, Northern India, China and 

 Japan. Accidental in Northern North America. 



This is the Nun or the White-headed Merganser of British authors. It is found 

 during the summer months in Northern Europe and Northeastern Asia. In Great 

 Britain it is occasionally met with during the winter. It is admitted to our American 

 fauna upon its accidental occurrence in Greenland.* 



132. MALLABD. Anas boschas Linn. Geog. Dist. — Northern parts of North- 

 ern Hemisphere; in America south to Panama and Cuba, breeding southward to the 

 Northern United States. 



The Green-head, or Mallard, is one of the most highly esteemed ducks, its 

 habitat being nearly cosmopolitan, and almost everywhere domesticated. It is the 

 original of our barn-yard duck. A common bird in North America at large, breed- 

 ing sparingly throughout the United States. In the sloughs and meadow marshes of 

 the northern tier of the states this duck breeds more or less abundantly in the 

 month of June. Rare in New England, scarcely found beyond Massachusetts, 

 and is replaced farther northeast by the Black Mallard, or Dusky Duck. 

 Mr. C. Barlow states that it is one of the most abundant species in California. He 

 found it very numerous about the marshes in the neighborhood of San Jose, eggs 

 being taken May 1. In Greenland, Mr. Hagerup states that the Mallard is common 

 the whole year round. Nests with eggs were found in May and June. The eggs of 

 the Greenland Mallard, he adds, are considerably larger than those of the Danish 

 bird; the former measure 2.36x1.73, the latter 2.20x1.61 inches. Mr. A. M. Shields 

 writes me that this is, perhaps, the most common of the ducks in the vicinity of Los 

 Angeles, Cala., breeding from the first of April to the last of June, selecting for its 

 nesting place the tall grass in fields not far from a lake or river. The eggs are six 

 to ten in number, pale, yellowish drab, or olivaceous-green, but most generally the 

 latter color when fresh; elliptical; average size, 2.25x1.25. 



*C/. Allen, Auk XIII, 1896, 164, 243. 



