110 
A N SERI FOR M ES 
Economic Status. Mergansers eat fish and, in certain waters — such as 
at the heads of salmon streams — they may do appreciable harm. Ordinary 
trout streams are too small for these species and it is only in special cir- 
cumstances that their depredations are serious. In waters that success- 
fully withstand commercial fishing, the fish taken by even a considerable 
number of Mergansers may be disregarded. In streams where angling is 
the most important interest too many Mergansers may be a just cause of 
complaint. However, Mergansers, like other birds, tend to take the food 
most easily obtained. The fish most highly valued by sportsmen are those 
agile, game varieties that are seldom pursued by Mergansers or other 
feathered fish-eaters when less active ones are available. These birds should 
not be condemned on suspicion, circumstantial evidence, or individual 
examples, but only after thorough investigation and proof of their destruc- 
tiveness. The Migratory Birds Convention, on proper application, affords 
relief against birds that are doing serious damage, and if an examination by 
qualified investigators shows that valuable interests are being seriously 
injured, permits for necessary destruction can be obtained. 
131. Hooded Merganser, le bec-scie hupfe. Lophodytes cucullatus. L, 17-50. 
The smallest of our Mergansers. The male is a most striking bird with great black and'white 
“hood" and rich chestnut flanks. The distinctive hood is a flat, disk-like crest, coloured pure 
white with a narrow, black edge that rises from the 
forehead, makes a wide, circular arch over the head, 
and meets the neck at the nape. The female is 
much duller coloured, w r ith brownish fuscous body, 
lighter below, and with a thin, fan-shaped, reddish 
brown crest. 
Distinctions. The male is unlike any other bird 
on the continent. The female can always be dis- 
tinguished by small size for its subfamily, and its 
entirely different coloration from other Mergansers 
in Canada. 
Field Marks. The male with its strong black 
and white coloration and big hood is easily recog- 
nizable. The female and juvenile male are small, 
dull-coloured ducks with thin crests. In flight, the 
contrasting black and white lanceolate striping of 
the tertials falling over the base of the wing can 
often be recognized when other specific details are 
not evident. 
Nesting. In hollow trees. 
Distribution. More or less common over all of Canada, north to tree limit. It 
probably nests wherever it can find suitable timber. 
The Hooded Merganser is a bird of quiet ponds and woodland pools. 
It is the most edible of the Mergansers, which fact, as well as the clearing 
of the timber, and its nesting in easily accessible localities, has probably 
reduced its numbers. 
Economic Status. It is doubtful if any serious charge can be proved 
against this little Merganser. Its chosen haunts are not those of game or 
food fish, and it probably consumes a smaller proportion of fish than either 
of its larger relatives. 
129. Common Merganser, saw-bill, goosander, sheldrake, shelduck. le 
barle commun. Mergus merganser. L, 25. 
Distinctions. Male: much similar to next species, but larger and of heavier build 
throughout, without crest or reddish breast-band and with more wdiite less interrupted 
with black on flank, wings, and neck. The delicate salmon tint of the underbody is present 
Figure 165 
Hooded Merganser; scale, j. 
Male Female 
