Mergus serratus
Order Anseriformes
Family Anatidae
Subfamily Anatinae
Other names: Sheldrake
♂ Adult male.— Head dark green (at a distance apparently black); long crest on hind head; a broad white ring around neck; upper back black, lower back gray; wing mostly white, crossed by two black bars; upper breast buff, streaked with black; rest of under parts white; bill, legs, and feet red.
♀ Adult female and Immature.— Throat white; rest of head and upper neck, with a crest on hind head, reddish-brown; back and tail slate-gray; wings darker, when spread showing a white patch; under parts white; bill, legs, and feet reddish-brown.
Nest, on the ground, either in rushes or under thick spruces.
Eggs, creamy buff.
The Red-breasted Merganser is an abundant migrant along the sea-coast in March and April, and in October and November; it is occasionally found as a migrant on inland waters, especially near the sea, but the common inland merganser is the following species. The Red-breasted Merganser is also a common winter visitant on the New England coast, and on the lower Hudson River, but is not common in winter off Long Island. According to Knight (“’Birds of Maine “), it is quite a common summer resident along the eastern half of the Maine coast and also breeds on some of the interior lakes.
When feeding it keeps in shallow water, either close to the shore or over shoals, and dives in pursuit of its food. The male is unmistakable: the long bill, the black head set off by the white collar below, identify him as a merganser. The loose feathers of the crest, and the reddish-brown breast distinguish him from his relative, the American Merganser. The females and young when seen in good light show a reddish-brown neck and head. When flying, the long outstretched neck and head and the gray tone of the back distinguish them from the other sea ducks with white wing-patches. In the female American Merganser the upper throat only is white, and the top of the head and lower throat are darker brown than in the Red-breasted Merganser; moreover, the former is almost never seen in the sea itself, though it occurs occasionally in estuaries and at the mouths of rivers.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)