“ The Hooded Mergansers which feite the United States,-
take their departure from the first of March tö thé middle
of May ; and I am induced to belieyerthat,'probably,- one-
third of them ta rry for the_purpose of Breeding on the margins
of several of our great lakes.’• Whe»vmigrating, they
fly at- a great height, in small loose flock# without any regard
to order. Their nôtés consisf of-à kmdofr-rorigh grunt,-
variously modulated, but by no means musical'; arid resembling
the syllables croö, er©&, ôroôâ. The-feïriafe; repeats it
sht or seven times in Succession, when She»^bsf||i> ÿ;<feri^:in
danger. The same iiöisëvis 'made, by the >mSl^^fther when
courting on the water, or as he passes on wi-ngriréaf théJÉHer-
where the female is laying- oïfe'Ôfler eggt^fe",?
In the adult male the bilHs-daill reddish-brown the irides
yellow ; head, arid upper part of the- neekbjgfck top of the
head ornamented with a- half circular crest, the posterior half
of which is white edged' with black-; back and wing-coverts
black ; primaries, secondaries, Mmp,-' arid tailrfëathérs dark-
brown ; scapulars and tertials elongated, < Slender, and white,
edged with black ; lower part of neck in-front white,‘l'with the
points of two ciescentic bands' dëséèriding trom the -upper
part of the back, and directed forwards ; frélly/,:vëM and
under tail-coverts white ; sides waved with yellowish-brown ;
legs and feet dull red. The whofedferigth of the-bird nineteen
inches ; the wing, from the- point to the end of the
longest quill-feather severi inches arid- a half.
The female is rather jsmaller in size ; the head, neck, back,
and wings dark brown j top of the head reddish-brown, the
feathers elongated ; chin white; nCck^in front pale brown,
the edges of the feathers lighter in colour ; under parts
white ; bill, irides, and feet, as in the males. The young
birds resemble thë-"female for the first year ; during the
second the black and white about the- head appears in young
males ; in the third spring they are complete.
THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.
M e r g il.«, 'sè r ra l'o ï. ^RÎ^-treasièa^Mergani^^rE^ÿiyEiru,. Zoôl. Vol.ri. p. 214.
"?i*î fe * ’■risMoffT.iÖr.nith’. Iïicfcï j 1
,, ,, „ B ewick, Brit.}B4fdsirJ.^
>> I »> . I Qoosanàer, Flem. Biif A,n, p. 129.
^ a n s# ’Selby; ÖAt.cOr±iith. vól. ii. p. 379.
,, ,, Jen.yss, Biit.-iS’ert. p. 249.
■ M - t H tiotirito, Birds of Europe, pt. iii,
Harle Biippt? x Temm. Man. d Ornith. vól. ii. jp. 884.
T h e R e d - b r e a s t e d M e r g a n s e r is ori’e of the species
of the geriris now under notice, that may be said to breed
annually* In some parts of th e British Islands, and various
localities will b& ^quoted; though by far the larger portion
of these birds which are found in this country may be considered
but as^ winter visiters, which arrive here late in