Plate CCCXXXI. Male and Female.
Male with a short longitudinal crest, eighteen tail-feathers, the bill
and feet of bright vermilion; the head and upper part of neck
greenish-black, splendent, with bright green reflections; lower part
of neck all round, and all the under parts of a delicate reddish-buff;
sides of rump and part of abdomen greyish-white, finely undulated and
dotted with dark grey; some of the lower wing-coverts dusky, the
larger coverts grey; fore part of back and inner scapulars glossy
black; hind part ash-grey, becoming lighter, and finally undulated on
the rump; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers deep grey; outer
scapulars white; a transverse band of black at the base of the wing
concealed by the scapulars; wing-coverts white; alula, primary coverts
and quills, and a band formed by the base of the first row of large
coverts black; secondaries white, six of them margined externally with
a black line. Female much smaller, with the crest much longer; the
head and upper part of neck brownish-red; throat and lower parts
white, the breast and abdomen tinged with buff; upper parts and sides
ash-grey; smaller wing-coverts and inner secondaries grey; bases and
tips of secondary coverts black, the intermediate part white; middle
secondaries white, outer and primaries greyish-black.
_Male_, 27, 36. _Female_, 24, 34.
In winter dispersed over the United States, and westward as far as
Texas. Breeds from Massachusetts northward, and along the Great Lakes.
Goosander, Mergus Merganser, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. viii. p. 68.
Mergus Merganser, Bonap. Syn. p. 397.
Mergus Merganser, Goosander, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v.
ii. p. 461.
Goosander, Mergus Merganser, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 460.
Goosander, Mergus Merganser, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 261.