62 Birds of Colorado 



on the Great Lakes. In Colorado this bird is only an accidental 

 straggler. One was taken by W. G. Smith at Loveland, and was 

 recognised by Prof. Wm. Osburn (Cooke). 



Genus OIDEMIA, 



Bill variously swollen at the base (except in ? O. americana) and 

 brightly coloured ; nostrils about the middle of the bill or beyond ; 

 plumage black or dusky brown with white patches. 



Confined to the Northern Hemisphere ; three species in the United 

 States. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Feathering of the head not reaching near the nostrils ; no white 



patches. O. americana, p. 62. 



B. Feathering of head reaching forward to a level with the nostrils. 



a. A white patch on the wing. 0. deglandi, p. 62. 



b. No patch on the wing, but two on the forehead and nape 



respectively. 0. perspicillata, p. 63. 



American Scoter. Oidemia americana. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 163 — Colorado Records— Ridgway 79, p. 234; 

 Morrison 89, p. 165 ; Cooke 97, p. 57 ; Felger 09, p. 283. 



Description, — Male — Black throughout, a little less glossy below, 

 and greyish on the inner web of the primaries ; iris brown, line of the 

 base of the bill fomiing a straight line with the frontal feathers, nostrils 

 in the middle of the bill, bill itself black, basal knob yellow ; feet 

 blackish. Length about 20 ; wing 9-0 ; tail 3-5 ; culmen 1-6 ; tarsus 1-7. 



The female is smaller — wing 8-0 — and sooty brown above, paler 

 below ; the bill is black throughout and has no basal knob. 



Distribution. — Breeding in northern Labrador and on the Alaskan 

 and north-east Siberian coasts ; wintering on the coasts south to New 

 Jersey and southern California, and on the Great Lakes. 



An accidental straggler to Colorado, seldom recorded. There was 

 an adult male in Mrs. Maxwell's collection, presumably taken in 

 Colorado (Ridgway) ; Breninger found a dead bird of this species at 

 Fort CoUina (Cooke). Hersey informs me it has been taken at 

 Barr, and Felger notes one from Aurora Lake, in the neighbourhood 

 of Denver, October 2nd, 1901. 



White-winged Scoter. Oidemia deglandi. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 165 — Colorado Records— Cooke 94, p. 183 ; 

 97, pp. 57, 195 ; 06, p. 61 ; H. G. Smith 96, p. 48 ; 08, p. 184 ; Henderson 

 03, p. 107 ; 07, p. 198 ; 09, p. 226 ; Bergtold 04, p. 78. 



