MERGUS CUCULLATUS, Linn
Hooded Mers:
-'inn. Syst. Na t., tom. i. p. 207.
iw cristalus, Briss. Orn., tom. vi. p. 258.
, Steph. Cont. o f Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol.
S e v e r a l instances are on re<
the continent o f Europe; bu
States to the Fur-countries,
genus, its movements are ii
north, where it breeds, and >
Mr. Selby has the honow
the first volume o f th e ‘ iVat
castle-upon-T vne,' p.
“ S in c e th a t p e rio d , ' s&v» M
mrrence o f this ornamental species ot M«r
i is America, over the northern portion o f ■
iierously distributed, and where, like the
he season ; that is to say, in the summer
ward as far as the Gulf of Mexico iu autun
id* known its first occurrence in Britain, I
i Natural History Society of Northunitarla
referred to was killed near Yarmouth duri
. C. Eyton, Esq., has obtained a specimen,
o f 1830-31. Mr. Hoy, of Stoke N'aylar
the estate, o f Anthony Ralph Biddalph,. Esq.”
Mr. W. Christy Horsfall, o f Horsforth Low Hall, informs me t
were killed in the neighbourhood o f Leeds. With such evident
islands, I must necessarily give it a place in th eB ird s o f Great Britain.’ Th
Merganser, like that of the other species of tKefgenus, is by no means devoi
hood o f the male, which is capable of being raised And depressed at the will
the grace o f its appearance. That this hood or crest is merely a seasonal
be no doubt; for I have seen male specimens killed at the season when the female nc
entire attention devoted to her progeny, which were so much like females in outward
convince me that at that time both sexe#-are similarly attired. These forlorn males now p
and rove about until the autumn, when nature again prompts them to associate with t
gradually assume their courting-dress, once more become beaux, and when spring arrives
north to their breeding-quarters. This, however, only occurs in America; for I question if
have been fosmd jn Europe have been known to breed therein : this being the case, I sha
. giving « lengthy e x tra c t from Audubon’s * Ornithological Biography,’ descriptive o f the Y
has a pair in his colW
he occnrrence o f the
, the Hooded Merganser is the
edging o f jetty black, renders the
ress o f the Hoodc
ment, the beautif
*d, adding much i
i, I think there ct
necessarily has In
whistling cfeftttsgh- m
>n his prev, when, glidi«« ifeH'Wt&sffiii 4jHfe( t*
i sweeping past. Five or six,
i in wide, circles, and, having spied;
1 the rushing noise they make as they
the Mergansers proceed, washing their bodies bv Mkorf9p|m$*ei
Then they plume themselves, and anoint their feathers, flow
apparently o f pleasure. Now they dive in search o f minnows,
no doubt prove delicious food to the hungry travellers. Having
fly low over the creek with almost incredible velocity, return
the north early in
: that produced bv
. he die r pe
' tbei , fly
still pool. Up the creek
g a low grunting note.
satisfied their appetite, th
to the brb<
margin until they meet with. clear i , where, secure from danj . they repose
bird ranges throughout the United States
nd estuaries o f the eastern coast and in the
.¡able to it as that o f the Carolina rice-planter;