Mermaid with red hat

A mermaid, according to irish mythology. The thing on her head is a feather hat, it is supposed to be a brillant shade of red. Red being the color of magic. According to legend a mermaid cannot return to the sea if their object of red; a hat, necklace, etc... is taken away from them. What people fail to see when they draw merfolk is that they forget that a mermaid is practically a Siren. They are scaly and dark, even though beautiful. The male merfolk are however another story, as to why the female of the species seek out human males instead.