480 



THE VELVET DUCK. 



though they do occasionally occur here in the spring. 

 Some 20 inches long, and about 32 in extent, thus only of 

 a medium size, the male is black throughout; eyes, brown; 

 feet, greenish; top of the bill, orange, the mark being 

 broadest by the gnarl at the base of the bill. Female and 

 young, brown, the sides of the head and the under parts 

 lighter, obscurely spotted with dusky. 



This is another of the winter Ducks, sometimes appear- 

 ing in great numbers along the whole Atlantic, perfectly at 

 home in the stormy surf of the winter winds, feeding mostly 

 on small bivalves, for which it dives incessantly and with 

 the greatest address. It flies low over the water, but moves 

 with great momentum; and is so attached to the sea, that its 

 appearance on fresh waters would seem to be but casual, 

 during its transits of migration, or w^hile the most tempest- 

 uous storms are raging along the coast. The note of the 

 Scoter in spring is like whe-oo-hoo, long drawn out. 



Nesting similarly to the Eider Duck, it breeds from 

 Labrador northward; the eggs, 2.00x1.60, being yellowish- 

 white. 



THE VELVET DUCK. 



During all last fall's shooting of Ducks on the Niagara, a 

 fine pair of mature Velvet Ducks {CEdcmiafiisca) remained in 

 perfect safety, though fired at more or less continuously. 

 They never dived to escape the shot, but had the happy 

 faculty of rising out of the water just before one came within 

 ordinary range for a shot. They seemed so perfectly self- 

 assured and at home, that up to that point of approach, one 

 might study them with all impunity. How buoyantly they 

 swam, and how large and lusty they looked as they flew low 

 over the water. The male, nearly 2 feet long and nearly 3 in 

 extent, of brownish velvety black with white secondaries, caus- 

 ing a clear white bar across the wing when closed, and a long 



