Red-breasted Merganser in Orange County, California in June
Rather hasty reference to available literature indicates but one summer record of the Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) for California (see Squires, Condor, XVIII, 1916, p. 232). Therefore it seems desirable to record four individuals of this species positively identified on the grounds of the Bolsa Chica Gun Club, Orange County, California, June 9, 1931. The birds were swimming on a slough one mile south of Sunset Beach and were scrutinized at close range through binoculars. All appeared to be immatures in ragged plumage: one male had assumed but a trace of breeding plumage. No doubt immature and non-breeding individuals of this species remain along most of our coastline in summer, as do scoters and other ducks that breed far north but do not mature until the second summer.
James Moffitt
510 Russ Building, San Francisco, California, August 3, 1931
