THE AMERICAN HOODED MERGANSER. 395 



First winter. Female. — Apparently as adult female but dis- 

 tinguished by juvenile wing. No moulting material examined. 



Measurements and structure. — £ wing 195-201 mm., tail 80- 

 93, tarsus 29-31, bill from point of frontal feathering 38-41 (12 

 measured). $ wing 184-198, bill 35-39. Primaries : 1st narrow, 

 pointed and little more than half longest primary-coverts, 2nd and 

 3rd about equal and longest, 4th 7-10 shorter, 5th 17-22 shorter, 

 6th 29-35 shorter. Innermost secondaries long and tapering, longest 

 shorter than 4th-6th primary. Scapulars of moderate length and more 

 or less pointed at tip. Tail with 18 feathers. Bill shorter than head, 

 higher than broad at base ; dorsal line of upper mandible gently 

 declinate for half its length then direct to nail, more depressed 

 terminally than in M . merganser ; serrations as in M . albeUus but 

 coarser. Nostrils situated near base of bill. Other structure as in 

 M. m. merganser. 



Soft parts. — Bill (ad. $) deep black, (ad. $) black edged with 

 orange ; legs and feet (ad. $) yellowish -brown, claws dusky, (ad. $) 

 dusky ; iris (ad. $) bright yellow, (ad. $) hazel. 



Characters. — No subspecies. Middle secondaries with white con- 

 fined to border of outer webs distinguish this species in all plumages 

 from other British Mergansers. 



Breeding -habits. — Haunts wooded swamps, lakes and river-banks. 

 Nest. — In hole of trees at varying heights ; also recorded from nest- 

 ing-box. Down, greyish-white as in all hole-breeding ducks. Eggs. 

 — 5 to 9 or even 12, very round, glossy white with extremely thick 

 and hard shell. Average of 57 eggs, 53.9x43.7. Max. : 57.5 X 

 45.2 and 55.5 X 45.5. Min. : 51.1 X 44 and 51.3 X 43 mm. Breeding- 

 season. — Latter half May, sometimes early June. Incubation. — By 

 female. Period not known. Single brooded. 



Food. — Chiefly fish (Millais records small char) ; also freshwater 

 mollusca, aquatic insects, and said to take vegetable matter, such 

 as water-plants, seeds, etc. 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Very rare vagrant. Four fully 

 authenticated, viz. young male Menai Straits (N. Wales), winter 

 1830-31 ; pair Queenstown Harbour (Cork), Dec, 1878 ; female 

 Shannon Estuary (Kerry), Jan., 1881. Single birds also said to 

 have been taken Dingle Bay and Tralee Harbour (Kerry), 

 Knockdrin (Meath), near Sligo and Norfolk (winter, 1837-38), near 

 Cheltenham (Gloucester.) March, 1909, and two in Merionethshire, 

 1864. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — North America. Breeds from central 

 British Columbia, Great Slave Lake, central Keewatin, central 

 Ungava, and Newfoundland, south to Oregon, New Mexico, 

 Louisiana and Florida ; winters from southern British Columbia 

 south to Lower California, Mexico, the Gulf States and Cuba. 

 Single records from Alaska, Bermudas. 



