THE PELICAN. 
249 
hood, gives it a sprightly and animated appearance. 
This crest, together with the whole head, neck, breast, 
and upper part of the hack, are singularly marked 
with black and pure white, which is well contrasted 
with the rich brown of the sides and flanks. The 
female is a much plainer bird, but not without some 
claims to beauty. 
Like the Common Wood Duck, the Merganser 
seems to prefer placing its nest in some hollow tree, 
to building, as most other species do, upon the ground. 
The eggs are deposited on a bed of dried weeds, 
feathers, and some down from the breast of the bird. 
When the young are hatched, they are conveyed to 
the water by the parent, who gently takes them in 
her bill, and removes them one by one to their favorite 
element. Here she leads them among the tall grass 
and weeds, and teaches them to procure the snails 
and insects that come within reach. The Hooded 
Merganser is an expert diver, and in this way often 
escapes the sportsman’s gun, plunging, almost in a 
twinkling, below the surface, on the first intimation 
of danger. 
j With the name of the Pelican most of our readers 
are familiar, while with its appearance they may be 
wholly unacquainted. The American White Pelican, 
which Audubon is pleased to style a u splendid bird,” 
but which is quite too awkward to merit that term, 
is rarely seen in the middle districts, while to the 
north and west and south it seems to be more com- 
mon. According to Dr. Richardson,* it is abundant 
* Author of “Fauna Boreali Americana.” 
