Plumage short and dense, of the head and neck very short, soft and blended; of the lower parts short, blended, stiffish, considerably glossed; of the upper compact, glossy; the feathers on the lower part of the sides of the neck much incurved, oblong with the terminal barbs stiff; those of the fore part of the back and the scapulars straight, oblong, abrupt. Wings proportionally very small and narrow, curved; primaries strong, tapering, the first longest, the second slightly shorter, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries very short, broad, and rounded. Tail extremely short, rounded, of eighteen feathers.
Bill black. Iris deep bright red. Feet greyish-blue, their inner sides tinged with yellow; claws black, that of the inner toe yellowish at the base. The upper part of the head and the hind neck are light grey or hoary, the fore part and sides of the head darker. The upper parts are glossy black tinged with green anteriorly, and shaded with brown behind. On the fore part of the back are two longitudinal bands of transverse white bars, the feathers being tipped with that colour; the scapulars, excepting the outer, are marked in the same manner with transverse rows of rather large square spots. Most of the wing-coverts have two roundish spots of white near the end. The quills are blackish-brown, tinged with grey externally, paler on the inner webs; the tail also blackish-brown. The fore neck, to the length of six and a half inches, is purplish-black, ending angularly below, and with a transverse interrupted band of linear white spots near the upper part; beyond which the sides of the neck are blackish-brown, with several longitudinal white streaks, formed by the edges of the feathers; on the lower part of the neck a broad space is occupied by these longitudinal, dusky, and white streaks the former of which gradually become narrower. The lower parts are pure white, excepting a longitudinal band on the sides under the wing, which is dusky.
Length to end of tail 29 inches, to end of wings 27 1/2, to end of claws 33; extent of wings 39 1/2; wing from flexure 12 3/4; tail 2 3/4; bill along the ridge 2 5 1/2/12, along the edge of lower mandible 3 4 1/2/12; tarsus 3 1/12; hind toe 8/12, its claw 2/12; second toe 3 2/12, its claw 5 1/2/12; third toe 3 8/12, its claw 5 5 1/2/12; fourth toe 4 1/4, its claw 4 1/2/12.
Adult Female. Plate CCCXLVI. Fig. 2.
The Female is smaller than the male, but is similarly coloured.
Young in Winter. Plate CCCXLVI. Fig. 3.
The texture of the plumage is less dense, the feathers on the neck being more downy, and those of the back oblong and rounded. The bill is light bluish-grey, dusky along the ridge; the iris brown; the feet more dusky. The upper part of the head and the hind neck are dark greyish-brown; the sides of the head greyish-white, minutely streaked with brown. The upper parts have a reticulated or scaly appearance, the feathers being brownish-black, with broad bluish-grey margins; the rump dull brownish-grey. The primaries and their coverts are brownish-black, the secondaries and tail-feathers dusky, margined with grey. The fore part of the neck is greyish-white, minutely and faintly dotted with brown, its sides below streaked with the same; the lower parts, including the under surface of the wing, pure white; the sides of the body and rump, with part of the lower tail-coverts, dusky, edged with bluish-grey.
When in their first downy plumage, the young are of a uniform brownish-black colour.
SMEW OR WHITE NUN.
Mergus Albellus, Linn.
PLATE CCCXLVIL. Male and Female.