towards the shafts of the tail and its coverts to clove-brown. Sides of the rump white, undulated
with blackish-brown. Bill vermilion-red on the sides, black above and below. Legs
vermilion-
Form.—Bill armed with acute conical teeth pointing backwards: two acute serrated
ridges on the palate. Nuchal crest short, not pendant, resembling the surrounding plumage.
Wings three inches shorter than the tail.
Female.- Top of the head and crest of long slender feathers, mostly occipital, liver-brown;
sides of the head and upper half of the neck ferruginous. Upper plumage clove-brown, with
greyish edges. No white on the scapulars or lesser coverts ; but the speculum nearly as in
the male. Under plumage white; the fore part of the neck and flanks yellowish-grey, edged
with white.
Dimensions.
, total I \ an InFchem. aLlei.n . ^ Male. . 31 0 25 0 Length of bill to rictus . . 3 Inch*0]!/ of tail • . 2 3 0 of wing . . 6 0 3 3 „ from nostrils- to tip . . 1 6 1 6 . 1 1 0 9 0 „ of tarsus 2 0 1 9 of bill above ■, . 2 4 2 l „ of middle toe .' . 2 6 2 2 of bill to frontal angles . 2 10 „ of middle nail . . 0 44 Ö 34
! males vary four inches and :more in lenH — R .
[221.] 2. M e r g u s s e r r a t o r . (Linn.) Red-breasted Merganser.
Sub-family, Merganinse, Sw. Genus, Mergus, Linn.
Red-breasted Goosander. Edw., pi. 95.
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator). P enn. Arct. Z o o lii., p. 537, No. 466.
Wins., viii., p. 91, pi. 69, f. 2, male.
Mergus serrator. Sab., Frankl. Joum., p. 702. Bonap. Syn., p. 497, No. 348.
Kanwan-seek. Saulteur Indians.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed on the Saskatchewan.
C olour. Head, crest, adjoining half of the neck, medial line above to the back, fore part
of the back, the shoulders, scapulars, lesser coverts bordering the wing, twelve exterior quills,
tertiary coverts, posterior tertiaries, basal halves of the secondaries and of their coverts,
with the narrow borders of the tertiaries, black; the sides of the head and the nape deeply
glossed with duck-green. A broad neck collar, the wide centres of a tuft of black feathers on
the shoulders, exterior scapular coverts, intermediate wing coverts, distal halves of the greater
coverts and of the secondaries, the tertiaries, and the under plumage, pure white. Rump
and tail coverts blackish-brown, minutely undulated with white; flanks more regularly and
distinctly undulated with the same. Tail broccoli-brown. Breast and sides of the neck
posteriorly brown, approaching to buff, striped on the margins and fringed on the tips with
black- Bill orange on the sides and beneath: dark above* Feet brownish-orange.
F orm.— Bill toothed, as in M. merganser; ridges on the palate less prominent. A crest
of long and very slender feathers springing from the crown and occiput. Upper mandible less
deep at the base than in the preceding species.; its junction with the feathers of the forehead
less indented.
Female under two feet long, scarcely to be distinguished from the female of the preceding
species, except by the form of the line of junction of the plumage of the forehead with the
bill, and the black bar crossing the speculum on the bases of the secondaries and extreme tips
of the greater coverts.
Dimensions.
IncMh.a lLe.i n. InFchem. aLlein. . Inch. Lin. ^ Fmo/e.
Length, total . • . 25 6 21 0 Length of bill to rictus . 3 1 2. 7 ,, of tail . . . 4 0 3 6 „ from nostrils to tip . . 1 74 1 6 j,' of wing . . . . 9 6 8 3 „ of tarsus ' . . 1 10 1 7 „ of bill above . . 2 4* 2 0 ,, of middle toe . . 2 3 2 1 ,, of bill to frontal angles . 2 5 — of its nail . 0 4 0 4
— R .
[2 2 2 .]: 3. M e r g d s c u c u l l a t u s . (Linn.) Hooded Merganser.
Sub-family, Merganinse, Swains. Genus, Mergus, Linn.
The Round-crested Duck. Edw., pi. 360.
Hooded Merganser (Mergus cucullatus). P enn. Arct. Zool., ii., p. 538, No. 467.
W il s ., viii., p. 79, pi. 69, f. 1, male.
Mergus cucullatus. Sab. Frankl. Joum., p. 703. Bonap. Syn., p. 397, No. 349.
Keeneeconais-sheep, Algonquins. Omiska-sheep, Crees.
DESCRIPTION
Of a male, killed on the Saskatchewan.
C olour.—Top of the head, dorsal plumage, upper lesser coverts, quills, and tail, blackish-
brown. Sides of the head, neck, bars on the shoulders, scapulars, tertiaries, and bases of the
secondaries and greater coverts, greenish-black. Broad bar from behind the eye through
the middle of the crest, alternate bars on the shoulder, tips of the greater coverts, exterior
borders of the secondaries, central stripes on the tertiaries, and under plumage, white. Flanks
finely undulated with yellowish-brown and black.
F orm.—Teeth oblique, sharp edged, not conical. Rows of transverse furrows on the
palate, but no acute ridges. Crest on the crown and nape long. Wings two inches and a
half shorter than the tail.
Young.—Upper plumage browner; the white speculum and stripes on the tertiaries less
perfect than in the adult. No black and white bars on the shoulder, nor white band behind
the eye. The head, neck, and upper parts of the breast, soiled pale brown, with white
edgings on the latter. Chin whitish. Bill black, orange beneath. There is scarcely any
crest.