BIRD RECORDS IN UPPER MISSOURI VALLEY 
397 
6. Red-breasted Merganser. Mergus serrator. On November 
25, 1919, Mr. Anderson received two mergansers from Wakefield, 
Nebraska. One of the specimens was clearly a female of ameri- 
canus, having a deep red color on the head, with no gray ; the 
bill was one and seven-eighths inches long, with one and three- 
eighths inches between the tip and the nostril. The other speci- 
men was quite different. The plumage on the crown of the head 
contained some gray color ; the bill was two and a quarter inches 
long, with one and five-eighths inches between the tip and the 
nostril. This specimen, we concluded, was a female of Mergus 
serrator, .which makes about the sixth specimen of this species 
which Mr. Anderson has mounted. 
7. Hooded Merganser. Lophodytes cucullatus. On November 
11, 1918, Mr. Anderson received and mounted a male taken at 
Browffs Lake, Woodbury county, Iowa. On October 31, 1919, 
he received two females and an immature male from the same 
locality. And on November 3, 1919, he received a male which 
had been taken a short distance up Big Sioux river. 
8. Hybrid. On November 4, 1919, two birds flying together 
(as reported) along Big Sioux river were shot by a hunter, 
who had them both mounted. One was a Black Duck, and the 
other proved to be an interesting hybrid between the Mallard and 
the Muscovy Duck. This bird was thirty-three inches long 
(tip of tail to tip of bill), and weighed six and a quarter pounds. 
The length of wing was thirteen and . three- fourths inches ; 
culmen, two and one-fourth inches; width of bill, one and one- 
eighth inches. The hind toe is lobed. 
The head, back and upper tail are blackish with dark green 
iridescence. The breast is dark chestnut brown, grading darker 
above and lighter below. The belly is whitish, mottled heavily 
with black. A description, with samples of the plumage, was 
submitted to the Smithsonian Institution for identification. A 
very full reply was received from Dr. Chas. W. Richmond, As- 
sociate Curator of Birds, which, by kind permission, is repro- 
duced, in large part, herewith. 
“In reply to your letter of the 7th, enclosing sketch of a 
strange duck, I beg to say that there is little doubt that the bird 
represents what is known as a hybrid between the Muscovy Duck 
and the Mallard. Specimens of this hybrid are not common, and 
appear to be usually found in a wild state, though the cross 
must occur in a state of captivity, inasmuch as the breeding 
ranges of the wild birds are separated by hundreds of miles. 
