J 
HOODED MERGANSER 
Mergus cucullatus, Linnaeus 
Mergus cucullatus, Linn., Syst. Nat,, ed. x. i. p. 129 (1758). 
Lophodytes cucullatus, Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., xxvii. p. 468 (1895). 
Local Names.— Hooded Merganser, American Hooded Merganser {English) ; Hairy-head, Water- 
pheasant, Hooded Shelldrake, Cotton-head, Pond-shell Duck, Spikebill (iV. America). 
Egg. — The eggs are 5 to 12 in number. Texture of shell smooth with a good deal of 
gloss ; shell very thick and hard ; colour white or creamy white ; the shape is extraordinarily 
round, in fact almost spherical. Average size of eggs, 54.49x44.3 mm. (2.14X 1.74 inches). 
Max. 57.5x45.2 and SS'S^^S^S^ min. 51 X42 and 53.5x41.5 (F. C. R. Jourdain). 
Down. — Dull buffy grey, very soft in texture ; small feathers amongst it are white, with 
a large greyish-brown central patch, extending right across the feathers. (Dresser, Eggs of 
B. of Ettrope, p. 588). 
Young in Down. — Upper parts brown, darker in centre of back and rump ; crown 
brown, passing into buff on sides of head and cheeks ; small white spots on each side of the 
back and rump ; wings brown, with white edges where secondaries will appear ; upper breast 
and lower neck grey ; lower breast and under parts of vent white. 
Immature Male. — From the few specimens of immatures in public and private collec- 
tions which Lhave seen it seems certain that the plumage changes of the immature Hooded 
Merganser are in every way identical with the three other members of the genus. 
The first plumage of the young male resembles the female, having a brown crest. By 
the following March the young male has assumed a small amount of adult plumage, notice- 
ably round the eye, throat, and upper sides of the breasts. A few new scapulars also come 
in, whilst the tail has been renewed. 
A young male killed in March has the head and neck light brown, more or less sprinkled 
with new black feathers ; crest brownish-white, with broad brown edge ; upper parts dark 
brown with lighter edges ; wings, rump, and upper tail-coverts dark brown, with a few of 
the upper wing coverts white ; upper breast dusky grey ; lower breast and abdomen white. 
In May and June these traces of winter feathers are lost and a semi-eclipse is assumed, 
very similar to the adult male. The wings, however, are not changed until August and 
September, when the principal moult is in full course. In November the young male, at 
seventeen months, gets its first adult plumage. 
Adult Male. — Head and neck black with green and purple suffusions ; crest large and 
semi-circular with a broad edge of black and a large fan-shaped patch of white in the middle. 
Upper parts black, changing to brown on the mantle and lower back ; lower neck and 
breast white, with two black crescentic bars on each side of the breast ; under parts white, 
and often yellow if the bird goes to the sea or brackish water ; tail brownish-black ; flanks 
reddish-brown, vermiculated with dark bars ; thighs and sides of under tail-coverts sandy- 
brown, vermiculated with dark grey-brown bars ; primaries brown ; secondaries brown, and 
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