42 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



General habits. — These great birds are masters of the art 

 of flight. Much of their time is spent in the air, often so 

 high that they appear as mere specks in the sky, and this 

 great altitude is attained by soaring usually without a single 

 perceptible motion of the wings. Fishermen who visit the 

 waters of the Gulf .assert that these birds often come about 

 their vessels to pick up the scraps of fish that are thrown out. 



DUCKS, GEESE AND SWANS: Family Anatidae. 



MERGANSER ; SAWBILL : Mergiis merganser americanus 



Cassin. 



State records. — The merganser is probably an uncommon 

 winter visitor in Alabama, but no specimens are available 

 and there are but two definite records of its occurrence in 

 the State. F. W. McCormack examined and identified a speci- 

 men killed at Leighton, January 23, 1892, and Mrs. B. R. 

 Samuel reports also having identified one killed on the Tennes- 

 see River near Guntersville, in January, 1912. W. L. Bryant, 

 of Bayou Labatre, states that there is a merganser larger than 

 the red-breasted occurring in the Sound, which is locally 

 known as "Cuban duck ;" this may be the species now under 

 consideration. 



General habits. — The merganser is a hardy bird, nesting in 

 the far north and retiring south only with the advent of cold 

 weather. It frequents the larger rivers and the bays along 

 the coast, feeding on the small fish abounding in such places, 

 keeping for the most part in small companies, and not asso- 

 ciating much with other ducks. 



RED-BREASTED MERGANSER; SAWBILL: Mergus 

 serrator Linnaeus. 



State records. — The red-breasted merganser is a fairly com- 

 mon winter visitor on the coast and probably not infrequent 

 on the inland waters. In Mississippi Sound and in shallow 

 ponds on Petit Bois Island, March 22, 1912, I observed num- 

 erous small flocks of these birds, and in the same waters, 

 November 12-26, 1915, found them fairly common. Five 

 specimens were taken at Bayou Labatre, November 12 and 23, 



