MERGUS SERE AT OR. 
46] 
than elsewhere, and breed in holes of trees. I have never, been fortunate enough to find 
one of their nests but observed the downy young following their parents, in the Susque¬ 
hanna River late in June, A week or two after, I caine upon two broods in the same 
stream and succeeded in securing several specimens, but the task was not easily accom¬ 
plished, for although I was provided with a boat and accompanied by an assistant, the birds 
which were but about a quarter grown, managed to elude us for a long time. The adult 
female was present and always kept herself between us and her young which not only swam 
exceedingly fast but alsonlived with ease, remaining under water for some time; then if 
hard pushed, would raise their wings and flap along the water after the manner practiced 
by domestic Ducks under similar circumstances. 
MERGUS SERRATOR. 
Red-breasted Merganser. 
'Mergus serrator'L inn., Syst. Nat., I, 1766, 20S. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Cn. Form, rather slender. Size, medium. Occipital feathers, lanceolate and elongated. Color. Adult male. 
Head and upper neck all around, black, glossed with greenish. Lower neck, white. Above, and on sides and flanks, black 
with the two last and posterior portion above, finely banded with white. Greater wing coverts, secondaries, outer scapu- 
laries, and under parts no* described, white, the last tinged with creamy. Two bands across white of wings and outer mar¬ 
gin of upper secondaries, black. Iris, red, bill and feet, reddish-orange. Adult female. Head and upper neck all around, 
reddish-brown, becoming dusky on crown. Upper portions, sides, and flanks, bluish-ash, with edges of feathers, lighter. 
Wings, brown, witli secondaries and greater coverts, white, banded with brown. White beneath, tinged with dusky on the 
breast. Young. Similar to adult female. Nestlings. Brown above, becoming reddish on head, and marked with patches 
of white; and there is a white line passing through eye. Beneath, white. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Known in the adult stages by the reddish breast and small size, and the female may be distinguished by the indistinct 
line of demarkation between the color of lower neck and remainder of body. Nestlings of this and following species, are 
indistinguishable. Distributed, in summer, from Gulf of St. Lawrence, northward, wintering from Massachusetts, south¬ 
ward. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of specimens from North America. Length, 2L63; stretch, 32 25; wing, 8 85; tail, 3 95; bill, 
2'21; tarsus, l - 70. Longest specimen, 23'25; greatest extent of wing, 33 00; longest wing, 9 10; tail, 4 10; bill, 2 24; tarsus, 
1 80. Shortest specimen, 20'00; smallest extent of wing, 31*00; shortest wing, 8'6«); tail, 3 80; bill, 2‘18; tarsus, 1'06. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests , placed on the ground near water, composed of weeds, grass, feathers, etc. Eggs, six to twelve in number, oval 
in form, and greenish-brown in color. Dimeasions from l'70 x 2 , 50 to 1*75 x260. 
HABITS. 
I found the Red-breasted Mergansers breeding on the Magdalen Islands about the mid¬ 
dle of June, 1872. The nests were placed beneath the overhanging branches of some 
dwarfed spruces, about fifteen or twenty yards from some small ponds of fresh water which 
were, however, at no great distance from the shore. The trees were only about four feet 
high, flat in form, with the branches long, and as the lowest were but a foot from the ground, 
the birds were completely concealed. They also sit closely, not rising until nearly trod¬ 
den upon, and therefore their eggs were not easy to find. When disturbed, the female 
would fly silently away, and I did not see the males at all; but a few weeks later, when 
the downy young were swimming in the neighboring ponds, both parent birds were pres¬ 
ent and exhibited considerable solicitude, flying distractedly about, often coming within a 
few yards of me. - The Red-breasted Mergansers migrate southward in November, when 
they are abundant on our coast, feeding at such times, along the shores, and they are es- 
