The American Merganser 



the taking of such prey depends primarily upon unimpeded eyesight, it 

 goes without saying that these birds prefer clear waters and free course. 

 Although they visit in winter the ocean and its estuaries, as well as the 

 larger bodies of water in the central valley of California, the breeding 

 range of the American Merganser includes only the crystal clear waters 

 of the high Sierras and a few of the northwestern rivers. It is to be feared 

 that when the Fish-duck encounters a lusty school of herring or a company 

 of young salmon he does not agree that "enough is as good as a feast." 

 An Arctic authority, Hearne, states that it devours fish in such great 

 quantities as to be frequently obliged to disgorge several before it can 

 rise from the water. It is noteworthy in this connection that the skin of 

 the throat is unusually elastic, so that the bird can accommodate a large 

 catch. Mr. Bowles once shot a female which had a suspiciously swollen 

 throat. A post mortem disclosed a seven-inch trout, whose head was 

 digesting comfortably, but whose tail had not yet found entrance into 

 the bird's stomach. After an especially satisfying meal the bird is likely 

 to clamber ashore in some secluded spot and indulge in a digestive nap. 

 On such an occasion I once got near enough to sprinkle salt on the glut- 

 tonous creature's tail, but a grating pebble gave the plot away before I 

 got my hands upon her. 



Like the Golden-eye and certain other ducks, this Shelldrake usually 

 occupies a hollow tree or stub for a nesting site. Now and then a crevice 

 in the face of a cliff does duty, and old nests of hawk or crow have been 

 pressed into service. Moderate elevations are favored, but Mr. Bowles 

 once found a nest in a decayed fir stub at a height of over a hundred 

 feet. The cavity, wherever found, is warmly lined with weeds, grasses, 

 and rootlets, and plentifully supplied with down from the bird's breast. 

 The eggs are of a clear creamy, or dull buffy tint, and have that "hard- 

 oil" finish characteristic of so many ducks' eggs, and they are further 

 polished by four weeks of incubation. The young, when hatched, re- 

 quire to be transported to the water in the maternal beak — a rather 

 trying ordeal, we must presume, in the case of that tenth-story tenant 

 of the fir stub. 



The American Merganser is rare enough as a breeding bird of Cali- 

 fornia, so that we welcome the clear account furnished by Mr. Eugene 

 Law:' 



"One of the prettiest sights of my experience came very unexpectedly 

 while I was standing on a board walk in front of a little cabin at the edge 

 of Lake Tahoe about 5 p. m. on June 24, 191 1. This was in a little cove 

 occupied by fishermen at the source of the Truckee River between Tahoe 

 Tavern and Tahoe City. At this particular spot the walk stood out over 

 the water and on either side the willow marsh extended out to a like 

 distance. ^ 



1 Condor, Vol. XIV., Jan. 1012, pp. 41 and 42. 



