1874.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
213 
Some Wild Ducks. 
BY J. H. BEATTY. 
Upon this page are illustrated four drakes of 
very beautiful and somewhat rare native ducks. 
They are generally known to the sportsman, 
and all to the ornithologist, yet they are almost 
strangers to the general public. There are forty- 
one distinct species of ducks that inhabit North 
striped with two longitudinal black bars, which 
meet near the base of the bill and spread as 
they approach the neck, making a Y-shaped 
figure. The tail is slightly rounded, the quills 
pointed and brownish black; back brownish 
black, with two small patches of white on 
the rump; wings brownish black; coverts 
white; secondaries curved, hanging pendant 
over primaries; back, neck, and shoulders 
the crest lies flat. The systematic name of the 
Hooded Merganser is Lophodytes cucullatus. 
The male has its head and neck black, with a 
half crescent shaped patch of white extending 
along the top and back of the crest; the upper 
parts are black; secondaries and scapulars 
striped longitudinally with white; base of neck 
banded with a crescent of white; sides brown¬ 
ish, finely barred with brownish black; tail 
Fig. 1.— KING EIDER DUCK. Fig. 2.— HOODED MERGANSER. 
America, including the Teals and Mergansers, 
and twenty-six of these are common to our 
Eastern waters. One of the largest, rarest, 
and most beautiful of ducks is 
The King Eider Duck, Somateria spec- 
tabilis, or King Duck. It is the most boreal of 
its family, and during the severest winters it is 
seldom observed south of the Bay of Fundy. 
Its migrations are not so extensive as those of 
other ducks, and it ranges on our Eastern coast 
from Machias, Maine, to the Arctic Ocean. 
The King Ducks are erroneously known to the 
cod and herring fishermen as “ mongrel sea 
ducks,” and are by them supposed to be hybrids 
between the common Eider Duck and some 
other species. They breed in Labrador in con¬ 
siderable numbers, but the greater body of 
them nest further north. The specimen from 
while; top and hind head pale dove color; 
cheeks sage green; forehead furnished with a 
fleshy knob or pervious, membranous protu¬ 
berance, partially divided by a black band of 
feathers which extends from the nostrils to the 
top of the head; bill rather small, toothed, and 
furnished with a strong nail at the extremity 
of the upper mandible. 
The Hooded Merganser is widely dis¬ 
tributed throughout the United States, and 
may be called a fresh-water duck. I have 
taken several females near the Fire Islands, 
N. Y., but they were migrating, and evidently 
w re more in search of a resting-place than of 
feeding grounds. This duck is often found 
in company with the young of the year of 
the Buffel Head in the inland lakes and 
rivers during the autumn. It feeds on fish, 
long and rounded and brownish black; bill 
long, narrow, convex above and underneath, 
and deeply toothed; eyes light yellow. The 
dimensions of the specimen from which the 
drawing (fig. 2) was taken are, extent 27 
inches, length 18.50 inches. While the Hooded 
Merganser is by some authors placed in a 
separate genus, Lophodytes , others include it in 
the genus Mergus with the 
Red-breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator, 
which is also called the Fish Duck. It is not a 
rare species in this country, and is found also 
in Europe. Like our only other species, M. 
Americanus, the Sheldrake, this has a red bill 
with the upper mandible furnished with sharp 
recurved teeth; the male has a conspicuous 
crest; the head and upper part of the neck 
dark green, the under parts reddish white; the 
PINTAIL OR SPRINGTAIL DUCK. 
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 
which the illustration (fig. 1) was taken was shot 
in Labrador in Nov., 187L The eggs of this 
duck are small in proportion to the size of the 
bird, are of a uniform pale green color, and 
from three to seven of them are deposited in 
the nest, which is made of moss and lined with 
down plucked from the breast of the female. 
The King Duck is black from the breast to the 
tail; breast cream colored; throat whitish, 
and is an expert at diving. When wounded, it 
often gives a severe chase to the hunter, who 
when it appears on the surface of the water 
after diving bangs away at it in vain. It has a 
large, full, hair-like crest or hood, which can 
be erected or depressed at will. When the 
bird is swimming on the water the crest is 
raised, giving it a very showy appearance, but 
when it is flying or swimming under the water 
portion just above the breast reddish brown, 
streaked with black. The sides are conspicu¬ 
ously barred with transverse black lines, and 
the white of the wing is marked by two black 
bars. The only remaining species that there 
is at present room for, is a bud well known 
to sportsmen as the 
Pintail or Springtail, Dafila acuta, more 
nearly related to the proper ducks than any of 
