diving, 'which Its serrated "beak, with „'the horny- nail depend
ing at-a right ingle from the upper mandible* enabjjg§7 it to
catch and hold with certainty.- Mr. Temminek-rSays this Species
is abundant on the.shores of Hoilap^i -and-, sometiîp^|^> *
the marshes of the interior; it is .found also im-piernjapy,
Switzerland,h'Proyence, and Ita ly ^À c^ rd ip g ? ta. M.
m in cF b iA fromi.Japan exactlpresemble Eur^fin^ex'amphf?;;
The Red-breasted Merganser'is found in. Grqeplahd, Newfoundland,
and Hudson’s Bay. Dr. Richardson -obtained
specimens-in th e -:fur-nÖuntriesiinb:N-orth A m e ^ ^ and-„in|
terestingp accounts of its habits in the United
by ;thé;:,ornithelpgists bf .hhese .éonntries.^
, In thé adult male^-the fhppeFmiandible g^dark reddish-*
brown, except -the ' edges; whieh^ are of â brighter,ir%i#sunder'
mandible whoRjrred ; irides red ; -all the headland the nppef
part of the neck dark^ but^shining,5jgr|;en,s th§||^|heES on the'
crown: and iocciput ;S;elongated ; middles i oi||u45ks ••‘all îqund
white,- except a narrow dih^bfii-blaok- descending, lfrom.;
occiput to the upper part, of the back^-whieh^wlth the shoulders;
is also black; .the short scajpulars.;w h i t ^ t t ó i | m&e
elongated are black; b£ff|e". the p o i n t o n , . e a c h
side are. seyeraLroundish .white feathers, inaïgined with’broad
and rich velvet-bkMds ; point of -thejÿjpg dark brown-; :smaft
wmg-co verts whpté # great coverts andi^condaxies, blackrat
fhp basé, the outer halves white,-forming. witK the-fmaHet'
covets thrée;Cönspicuous white bands off "the. wing ; primary
q^uill-feathers . brownish-black ; i tertials - white, wedged with
"black; lower portion of tEe?backr |he -sides, flanks, tump,
and upper tail-coverts grey ; tail-feathersjstiff, rather ppinfed^
and of a uniform brownish-ash cóldur ; lower part of the neck
on the front and sides pale ehestnntTbrowri, streaked* and
otherwise varied with black-; breast, ^ellybTand'under tâil-
* coverts white; legs and toes reddish-orange, the membranes;
darker reddish-brown. Thé' whole length full twenty-two
inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the longest
quffi-feather ten inched
1 '.Females are rather smaller than males, and have the head
and the fe&ck behind reddi&li-brown, darkest bn the crown of
the head,' the roeeipital feathers elongated ; all the back, scap
e s , an.d^siri.al’1 wing-coverts umber-brown ; greater coverts
and 1 T^efibndarie's* dark brownish-black, ending .with white,
forcing twcF'^P^e bands ; pripaaries^flM tertials dark brown-
ish-bla<Jf upper tail-coverts and- taMeathers brown-ash
cdiq^^ De'©k in^froiit irfoftTed with reddish and pale brown,
op a wMte?ground ; S l the under surface of the body white.
Whole length, about twenty-hne inches.
Young birds,reserpble adult females duringtheir first winter.
Myelpho^^vPr; in any,stat#ofplumage maybe ascertained
byvpas§mg:Hffe finger and thumb down the neck, feeling along
trachel^Hlhe male has an enlargement of the
tubei|i|§fore'ibpasseg^into■’the body; the tube of the. trachea
in the femalf^fs uniform ’ in itsfllz# throughout its whole
lei^ftv§&oung males dp not obtain their- fine plumage till
after their hec'Pnd autumn moult, and old males from the time
ttey-desert the femalesdill their autumn moult begins “ lose
the rich glbgsy green of thfe head and neck, which degenerates
into an obseure brown; and the fine chestnut colour of the
breast entirely disappears.”;—Gould.