THE HOODED MERGANSER. 
[Lophodytes cucullatus.) 
LYNDS JONES. 
EVEN the merest tyro in bird 
study need have no fear of con- 
fusing the male of this species 
with any other bird, as a glance 
at the picture will make evident. No 
other bird can boast such a crest, and 
few ducks a more striking pattern of 
dress or a more stately manner. The 
species inhabits the whole of North 
America, including Cuba, occasionally 
wandering to Europe and rarely to 
Greenland. It is locally common and 
even abundant, or used to be, in well 
watered and well wooded regions where 
fish are abundant, but seems to be grow- 
ing less numerous, with the advance ot 
settlements in these regions. The food 
consists of fish, mollusks, snails, and 
fresh water insects which are obtained 
by diving as well as by gleaning. 
The winter range of this "fish duck" 
is largely determined by the extent of 
open water on our lakes and streams. 
Thus it is regularly found in Minnesota 
wherever there is open water, even dur- 
ing the severest winters, but under 
other conditions it may be absent from 
regions much farther south. There can 
be little doubt that a large proportion 
of the individuals pass the winter well 
south, only a few being able to find 
subsistence about the springs and 
mouths of streams in the northern 
states. 
Is it entirely due to individual taste, 
or may it be a difference in the food 
habits of these birds in different parts 
of the country that their flesh is highly 
esteemed in some regions but will 
scarcely be eaten at all in others? If it 
is true that the Michigan individuals 
eat snails, crabs, and mollusks rather 
than fish, and are therefore excellent 
tor the table, while the California ones 
prefer fish and are therefore not fit for 
food, why have we not here a clear case 
of tendency to differentiation which 
will ultimately result in a good sub- 
species? 
The nesting of the hooded merganser 
is even more erratic than its occurrence. 
It has been found nesting in Florida as 
well as in the more northern parts 
of the country, and here and there 
throughout its whole range, being ap- 
parently absent from many regions dur- 
ing the nesting season. It is unlike 
the other "fish ducks" in preferring still 
water and secluded streams, but resem- 
bles the wood duck in building its nest 
a short distance from the water in a 
hollow tree or stump or on the flat side 
of a leaning or fallen tree, often forty 
or more feet from the ground. The 
nest consists of weeds, leaves, and 
grasses with a soft lining of feathers 
and down. This warm nest must be in- 
tended to act as an aid to incubation 
rather than as a warm place for the 
young ducks, since they, like other 
ducks, are carried to the water in the 
beak of the mother-bird shortly after 
they are hatched. The nest comple- 
ment ranges from six to eighteen eggs, 
the average being about ten. The eggs 
are variously described by different au- 
thors, both as regards color and size, 
from pure white, pearly white, creamy 
white, buffy white to buff-colored, and 
from 1.75 x 1.35, to 2.25 x 1.75 inches. 
The average size is probably nearly 
2.10 x 1.72. 
The downy ducklings are brown in 
color and, as they skim over the water, 
their pink feet churning up a spray be- 
hind, they present a bewitching picture. 
The male bird, like other ducks, as- 
sumes no share of the labors of incuba- 
tion, but entertains himself hunting fish 
in some solitary stream where food is 
plentiful, and in proper season returns 
to assume the duties of the head of his 
lusty family. 
The nesting season must necessarily 
vary greatly with locality. In Minne- 
sota fresh eggs are found during the 
third week of April, according to Dr. 
P. L. Hatch. The date would probably 
be much earlier with the Florida birds. 
The locality selected for the nest is also 
variable with the different parts of the 
country. 
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