52 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



example of each which did not weigh more than a quarter of an 

 ounce. The eggs of the Goosander may, however, always be 

 identified by the paleness of the down in the nest. 



THE VELVET SCOTER 



(Fuligula fusca.)* 



Plate 15, Fig. 5. 



The Velvet Scoter is a species which has been said to breed 

 in Scotland, but no absolute proof of the fact has yet been 

 obtained. The breeding range of the species extends from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific. It has not been recorded from Iceland, 

 but has been known to wander on migration as far as the Faroes 

 and Greenland in the west, and Alaska in the east. It ranges as 

 far north as lat. 69° both in Europe and in Asia, and in moorland 

 districts as far south as the Baltic Provinces in Europe, and to 

 lat. 55° in South-east Siberia. 



The nest is a mere depression in the ground, lined with any 

 suitable material that may be convenient, and provided with 

 abundance of down. The eggs of the Velvet Scoter are usually 

 eight, but sometimes nine in number, and are pale greyish-buff, 

 smooth in grain, but with little gloss. They vary in length from 

 2'9 to 2"7 inches, and in breadth from 1*95 to 1"85 inch. The 

 down is rather larger than that of the Black Scoter, slightly 

 browner in colour, but the pale centres are not so distinct. The 

 eggs of the Goosander overlap in size, but the colour of the 

 down is always an easy means of distinction. 



THE SUEF-SCOTEE. 



(Fuligula perspicillata.) t 



Plate 15, Fig. 2. 



The Surf-Scoter is a rare straggler to the British Islands in 

 winter, but has been obtained as far south as the Scilly Isles. It 

 is a Nearctic species, breeding from the Pacific to the Atlantic, 

 from lat. 70° down to about lat. 50°, and wintering on the Pacific 

 coast as far south as Lower California, the shores of the Great 



* CEdemia fusca — Saunders, Manual, p. 455 ; Sharpe, Handb., III., p. 46. 

 f CEdemia perspicillata — Saunders, Manual, p. 457; Sharpe, Handb., III., p. 48. 



