294 



KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



Length, 24; ^Ying, 11; tail, 4; tarsus. If; culmen, li. Northern 

 hemisphere ; breeding in the Arctic regions, and wintering in America 

 south to Great Lakes, and casually to Virginia or even to Georgia. 



24. American Scoter (163. Oidhnia americdna). — A large, 

 northern, winter, black duck, with the tii)})er parts slightly 

 iridescent and the lower parts slightly brownish. The bill of 

 the male has a peculiar hump back of the nostrils, which is 

 lacking in the female. The female is dusky-brown in color, 

 lighter below, with some dull white about throat, lower part of 

 head, and belly. This and the next two species, popularly 

 called " coots," are very poor food for man, being extremely 

 "fishy." All these scoters are alike in habits, living mainly 

 at sea, over beds of bivalves, for which they 

 dive. (Black Coot.) 



Length, 20; wing, 9 (8J-'JJ); tail, 4 ; tarsus. If; 

 lulmen, 1 J. Northern North America, living mainly 

 along coasts and on large inlaiul waters; 

 breeding from Labrador westward, and 

 wintering south to New Jersey, 

 Great Lakes, Colorado, and Cali- 

 fornia. 



'». White- winged Scoter 

 (165. Oid^mia lUglan- 

 di). — A black duck 

 with white speculum 

 on the wings and a 

 white spot below the 

 eye. The feathers 

 on the side of upper 

 mandible reach al- 

 most to the nostril, 

 about as far as do 

 those on the culmen. This is the best feature by which to 

 distinguish this scoter. The female (also the male and young 

 in winter) is sooty-brown, lighter and grayer below, Avith 

 white speculum, and more or less of whitish spots on the head. 

 (White-winged Coot.) 



White-winged Scoter 



