DUCKS 



LSI 



over submerged beds of nius>els and other bi- 

 valves, and feed upon them by diving. Being- 

 very hardy birds, they do not go as far south in 

 winter as many of the Ducks, Large numbers of 

 them remain in the winter about Nantucket and 

 Long Island. Few get as far as the southern 

 States. 



This Scoter is tlie most southerly of the three 

 in its breeding range. 1 have found quite a num- 

 ber of their nests in North Dakota and Mani- 

 toba. Though so hardy, they are the hist uf the 

 water-birds to breed. Usually they finish laying 

 from June JO to July I. When beginning to lay, 

 the female swims ashore, preferably on an island, 

 and creeiJS into the thickest weeds or brush she 

 can find near by. There she scratches a hollow, 

 lays a very big creamy-white egg, and rakes the 

 soil over it. Next day she digs it out, adds 

 another, and buries both. When the set is Hear- 

 ing completion she plucks down from her breast 

 and lines the nest. Examining a nest of eggs 

 before incubation begins is like digging potatoes. 



She sits very close, and when almost stepped 

 on tries to scurry through the weeds to the water. 

 Once I caught a Scoter leaving her nest. She did 

 not act frightened, but gazed quietly at her captor. 

 Suddenlv she gave a violent flap, sli])])ed to the 

 ground, and managed to get to the water first. 

 The voung are large for ducklings, clad in black 



and white suits of duwn, and walk almost erect, 

 renfinding one of little men. I Ii:ri!eut K. Job. 



The stomachs of nine White-winged Scuters 

 from .Massachusetts waters, examined by Mr. W. 

 L. Mc.\tee. of the Biolnrrical Survey, contained 



Pbjto i.y H. K Ji.;i l i-uru^y m1 U,.ui,:<a i\-. r■.l^■L■ i; Co. 



NEST OF WHITE-WINGED SCOTER 



of mussels, about 44 ]»er cent.: quohogs, 22 per 

 cent.; periwinkles, nj per cent.; hermit cralis. q 

 per cent. ; the remainder was caddis larvs and 

 algfe and other vegetable matter. Three birds 

 from Nantucket had eaten only the common 

 mussel. 



SURF SCOTER 



Oidemia perspicillata ( Lininnis) 



A. O. U. Number i66 See Color Plate io 



Other Names. — Surf Duck; Surf Coot; Suriur; Sea 

 Coot ; Bay Coot ; Gray Coot ; Brown Coot ; Box Coot ; 

 Spectacle Coot; Butterboat-billed Coot; Hollow-billed 

 Coot; Speckle-billed Coot; Blossom-billed Coot; Horse- 

 head ; Horse-head Coot ; Patch-head ; Patch-head Coot ; 

 Patch-polled Coot ; White-head ; White Scop ; Bald- 

 pate ; .Skunk-head ; Skunk-head Coot ; Skunk-top ; 

 Pictured-bill ; Piaster-bill; Morocco-jaw; Go.t;gle-nose ; 

 Snuff-taker. 



General Description. — LeuKth, Ji inches. Predomi- 

 nating color of male, black; female, sooty-brown above, 

 gray below. 



Color, — Adult M.'\le: Black, glossy abo-rc. duller 

 bclou': a triaiiytdar zvliitc patch on forehead pointing 

 foriv'ard : another one on nape pointing downzcard : no 

 ti-hite on zs.'itigs: basal half of bill, white with a large 

 round spot of black, this bordered above and behind by 

 red and yellow in a very narrow line; front half, yellow- 

 ish-orange crossed by a white band ; upper half, crimson 

 and orange ; feet, orange-red with dusky webs and 

 joints; iris, i^'hile. .'\di'1.t Fem.vi.e: Above, sooty- 

 brown; below, gray; two whitish patches on side of 



head, thus scarcely different from females of other two 

 species. Distinguished from female Scoter by larger 

 bill, and from female White-winged Scoter by absence 

 of white speculum. 



Nest and Eggs, — Xest: On the ground in a bunch 

 of marsh grass; more rarely in the low branches of 

 dwarf spruces ; constructed of grass and plant stems, 

 and lined with down. Eggs: 5 to 8, cream color. 



Distribution. — North America ; breeds on the Pacific 

 coast from Kotzebue Sound to Sitka, and from north- 

 western Mackenzie and Hudson Strait to Great Slave 

 Lake, central Keewatin, and northern Quebec ; non- 

 breeding birds occur in summer in northeastern Siberia 

 and south on the Pacific coast to Lower California, and 

 in Greenland and south on the Atlantic coast to Long 

 Island ; winters on the Pacific coast from the Aleutian 

 Islands south to San Quintin Bay, Lower California, on 

 the Great Lakes, and south casually to Colorado, 

 Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, and Louisiana, and on the 

 .■\tlantic coast from Nova Scotia to North Carolina, 

 rarely to Florida ; casual in the Bermudas ; frequent 

 in Europe. 



