MERGANSER. 213 



8— BLUE MERGANSER. 



Meigus cferuleus, bid. Orn. ii. 833. 



Anas discora, Ind. Orn. ii. 854. 55. B. 



White-faced Duck, Gen. Si/n. vi. 504. 50. A. 



Blue Merganser, Gen. Syn. Sup. ii. p. 340. Arct. Zool. ii. Sup. p. 74. 



THIS bird is fourteen inches in length, and weighs fourteen 

 ounces. The bill black, long, and slender; irides blue; forehead 

 and crown shining black, the feathers long ; about the ears some 

 dirty white feathers ; throat and belly white ; breast aud vent blue; 

 the hind part of the neck inclining to brown ; primaries, scapulars, 

 bastard wing, and lesser coverts, dark blue; greater coverts blue, 

 marked with a white spot ; secondaries white on the outside, blue on 

 the inner; tail black, short, and rounded ; legs blue. 



Arrives at Hudson's Bay in June; makes the nest on the stump 

 of a tree, near the side of a pond, and lays ten small white eggs, in 

 a cavity formed by scraping away the rotten wood ; hatches in July, 

 and immediately conveys its young in her bill to the water ; retires 

 in October; feeds on grass at the bottoms of ponds, and is frequently 

 seen flying over the surfaces. The natives call it Waw pew ne way 

 se pis, or Pied Duck. 



I have been favoured with the description of a similar one by 

 General Davies, which he met with in Canada, under the name of 

 Betsee, differing in a few, but not essential particulars, probably 

 arising from sex. 



