LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 129 



young birds on the lakes of Vaklers and Trondhjem in September, tlie males 

 having departed. 



The nest is often found in a depression of the dry ground in the open ; at 

 other times sheltered by brushwood such as salix or juniper. C. E. Pearson 

 found one nest in a clump of marram grass amongst sand hills. Others were 

 placed deej) down in cracks of the ijeat, overgrown by Enipctrum nigrum, so 

 that the sitting duck was carefully concealed. Seebohm found several nests in 

 the Siberian tundra far from the water, whilst Knoblooh says the velvet 

 i^coter sometimes breeds in forests. The nest is usiially a deep hollow 

 lined with grass and leaves. The earliest clutches are to be met with in the 

 Baltic, and are to be found from May 25 onward, but in Lapland it is more 

 usual to find eggs in June, and generally in the second half of that month. H. 

 F. Witherby took a clutch of eggs on July 22 in Russian Lapland, and Seebohm 

 found eggs on the Petschora in July. Six to ten eggs are usually laid, and in- 

 cubation is by the female alone. As to the period of incubation no data are 

 available. 



Eijgs. — Six to ten, as a rule, but clutches of 11 have been recorded. Simon- 

 son says that clutches of 10 to 14 may be met with. Oval in shape, creamy 

 white with a warm " apricot " tinge when fresh, which fades after a time. 

 Average size of 90 eggs, 70.8 by 47.9 mm. (2.78 by 1.88 inches). Max., 76.5 

 by 49.5 and 71.2 by 51.5; min., 64.3 by 46.9, and 68.3 by 44.8 mm. (F. C. R. 

 Jourdain). 



Young. — The males appear to deseit the females about the time the young 

 are hatching. E. F. von Homeyer says: "I have often seen 'locks of 60 

 to 100, consisting of old males only, in the months of July and August, and 

 these spent the day on the high sea and at dusk came to the shallower water 

 on the coasts in the bays of the island of Riigen." 



According to Pleske, they nest in such numbers in the island of Rugoe 

 in Esthland (Russian Baltic Provinces), that the inhabitants make ornaments 

 for their rooms with the blown eggs. All the habits of this duck, the up- 

 bringing of the young, and the early departure of the males for the sea, seem 

 to be similar to other true sea ducks. Late in September, when the young are 

 able to fly, the female takes them to the nearest seacoast, where she stays 

 with them until the migration commences in late October. 



Plumages. — The sequence of plumages from the downy stage to 

 maturity and the subsequent molts and plumages are so similar to 

 those of our white-winged scoter that it seems hardly necessary to 

 describe them here. For a full account of the molts and plumages of 

 the velvet scoter, I would refer the reader to the excellent work by 

 Mr. Millais (1913). 



Food. — On this he saj^s: 



The food of this species consists chiefly of conchylia and Crustacea, which 

 they gain from a considerable depth. I have found their stomachs filled with 

 large numbers of the common mussel, which seems to be their principal food, 

 mixed with quantities of sand and small pebbles. They are also very partial 

 to the razor shell in Orkney. I have also seen them bring to the surface 

 quite large crabs, which they break up before swallowing. The great black- 

 backed gull often waits on in attendance of feeding velvet scoters, and I have 

 more than once seen these clever robbers swoop down and steal the crab, the 

 duck merely gazing round in surprise when he finds his treasure gone. 



