May, 1920 
FOREST AND STREAM 
241 
Eider duck (male) 
Somateria mollissima 
white, with black bar on wings; back, 
black, fading to ashy gray on lower part 
and tail; under parts, delicate salmon 
color; bill, legs and feet, red. Length, 
about twenty-six inches. Female and 
young of both sexes : Smaller than male ; 
head and upper neck, reddish brown ; 
chin and throat, white; rest of upper 
parts and tail, ashy gray; breast and 
under parts, white; speculum, white. 
Length, female, about twenty-two inches. 
The American merganser is known by 
many common or local names of which 
sheldrake, buff-breasted sheldrake, goos- 
ander, saw-duck and saw-bill are the most 
familiar. Like the ducks, it is migratory. 
It is found throughout North America, 
liking both salt and fresh water, and 
breeds in some of our northern states 
and from there into Canada. The nest of 
leaves, grass and moss is built in a hole 
in a tree. 
These birds fly very swiftly and come 
well to the decoys, especially if the coun- 
terfeits are painted to represent their 
species. They are bagged now and then 
by the sportsman shooting ducks over 
duck decoys. 
The Red-breasted merganser — This 
bird is also known as the sheldrake, saw- 
and spike-bill, as well as water pheasant, 
and is seen more frequently on salt water 
than is the preceding species. It is com- 
mon on the brackish bays near the ocean, 
but is also found on the rivers, lakes and 
small streams of the interior. 
Male: Head and throat, black, with 
metallic green and purple reflections ; 
long, pointed crest of disintegrated 
feathers over top of head and nape, 
black; broad white collar around neck; 
sides of lower neck and upper breast, 
cinnamon red, with black streaks; lower 
breast, under parts and greater part of 
wings, white; rest of wings, black; back, 
black; lower back and sides, finely barred 
with black and white; white patch of 
feathers with black border in front of 
wings; two black bars across the white 
on wings; bill red; legs and feet orange 
red. Length, about twenty-three inches. 
Female and young: Head, neck and 
crest, brownish buff or cinnamon; back 
and tail, dark ashy; throat and under 
parts, white; speculum or wing mirror, 
white; bill, legs and feet, like male. 
The female and young of the red- 
breasted merganser and the American 
merganser are bewilderingly similar at 
King eider (male) 
Somateria spectabilis 
a short distance, but identification may 
be made with a bird in hand by the posi- 
tion of the nostrils which are near the 
center of the American merganser’s bill 
and near the base of the red-breasted 
species. 
I have had fair sport shooting the red- 
breasted merganser over decoys on 
Barnegat Bay. They are swift, graceful 
flyers and often decoy very prettily. 
One time in particular, I made quite a 
good bag of these birds while goose hunt- 
ing in the early spring, before spring 
shooting was prohibited. There were 
far more geese and mergansers on the 
bay than any other water-fowl, and as 
the geese were not flying well, we turned 
our attention to the less desirable shel- 
drakes. 
We used only red-breasted merganser 
decoys and shot from a small reedy 
island out in the center of the bay. The 
birds were quite plentiful, decoyed well, 
and the shooting was often rapid. The 
day was cold and clear, with the sun 
shining brightly. The handsome male 
birds dressed in their finest and most 
vivid plumage — that of the mating sea- 
son — were indeed beautiful as they swung 
gracefully in over the decoys, their bright 
colors flashing in the sunlight. They 
rather reminded one of cock English 
pheasants flying on a bright day. 
It is unfortunate that the sheldrake is 
not a better table bird, for as a mark it 
answers every purpose and often affords 
good shooting, and is certainly a very 
handsome fowl in the bag. As the ducks 
American coot Fulica americana 
American eider (male) 
Somateria dresseri 
become scarce more attention will no 
doubt be paid to the merganser, even 
though the flavor of their flesh hardly 
warrants the cooking. 
The red-breasted merganser often re- 
mains within our northern and central 
states throughout the winter, provided 
its feeding waters are not entirely frozen 
over. I recently saw many of these birds 
on the upper part of the Delaware River. 
It was in the latter part of January, with 
the temperature well down toward zero. 
The birds were evidently wintering there 
and appeared thoroughly satisfied with 
conditions as they swam and dove in the 
cold water and walked about on the ice. 
The Hooded merganser — The hooded 
merganser is the smallest of the three 
varieties. The male is remarkable for its 
beautiful crest, from which it was named. 
Male: Head, neck and upper parts, 
black; large semicircular black crest with 
fan-shaped v'hite patch on either side 
back of eye; lower back, brown; specu- 
lum, white, crossed by two black bars; 
breast, wing linings and under parts, 
white, finely waved with brown and 
dusky on sides and rear; two crescent 
shaped bars of black on sides of breast; 
bill, black; legs and feet, yellowish 
brown; iris yellow. Length, about 
eighteen inches. Female and young: 
Head, neck, upper parts and sides, grayish 
brown; crest, brown, smaller than male 
and without white patch; patch on wing, 
white with black bar; under parts, white; 
tail, grayish brown; bill, legs and feet, 
same as male; iris hazel. Length, about 
sixteen and a half inches. 
Unlike its two relatives that delight 
in rapidly flowing rivers, rough bays and 
the windy stretches of large lakes, the 
hooded merganser’s choice is the quiet 
water of small ponds and streams. They 
are often found on the small, still ponds 
in the heart of the forest where the 
thickly wooded shores afford cover de- 
sired also by the wood duck. It flies 
very swiftly and is an expert diver. 
While in the woods of northern Maine 
one fall, I spent a considerable amount of 
time chasing several flocks of hooded 
mergansers about a lake. I attempted to 
approach them in a canoe but was most 
unsuccessful. When still far out of gun 
shot the birds would dive, coming up 
again at a surprising distance. They re- 
peated this performance each time I en- 
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