This bird is abundant along the coast, but is generally tough and fishy.
Merganser.
Genus Mergus, Linn.
Generic Distinctions.—Bill straight, higher than broad at base; much smaller towards the end; upper mandible hooked; teeth sharp; head rather large, compressed; body rather long, depressed; plumage very thick; feet placed far behind; wings moderate, acute; tail short, rounded.
Shell-Drake.
Goosander Weaser.
Mergus Merganser, Wils.
Specific Character.—Forehead low; head rounded, crested; bill bright red, the ridge black, high at base; upper mandible much hooked. Adult male with the head and upper part of the neck greenish-black; lower portion of the neck white; under plumage light buff, delicately tinged with rose-color, which fades after death; sides of the rump greyish-white, marked with undulating lines of dusky; fore part of the back and inner scapulars glossy black; hind part of the back ash-grey; the feathers margined and tipped with greyish-white, lighter on the rump; upper tail-coverts grey, the feathers marked with central streaks of dusky; tail feathers darker; primaries dark brown; wing coverts and secondaries white, the outer webs of the latter edged with black; the basal part of the greater coverts black, forming a conspicuous band on the wings; under tail-coverts white, outer webs marked with dusky grey, which is the color of the greater part of the web; bill and feet bright red. Female with the head and upper part of the neck reddish-brown; throat and lower neck in front white; breast and abdomen deeply tinged with buff; upper parts and sides of the body ash-grey; speculum white. Length of male, twenty-seven inches; wing, ten and a half. Female about three inches smaller. Young like the female.
RULES FOR TRAP-SHOOTING
OF THE
NEW YORK SPORTSMEN’S ASSOCIATION.
Rule I. Traps, Rise, and Boundaries.—All matches shall be shot from H and T plunge-traps. Rise for single birds to be twenty-one yards; and for double birds eighteen yards. The boundaries shall be eighty yards for single birds, and one hundred yards for double birds, which, in single-bird shooting, shall be measured from a point equidistant from, and in a direct line between, the two traps; in double-bird shooting from a point equidistant from, and in a direct line between, the centre-traps.