180 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



pressed toward the end. No white whatever on the plumage, which is deep black, the bill 

 partly orange, in the males. Females dull grayish brown (lighter below), the bill wholly- 

 black. 



Two species only of this genus are known, one European, the 

 other American. They are much alike, but may be distinguished 

 by the shape and coloration of the bill. 



Oidemia americana Sw. & Rich. 



AMERICAN SCOTER. 



Popular synonyms. American Black Scoter; Butter-bill, Butter-billed Coot, Hollow- 

 billed Coot (New England); Scoter Duck: Yellow-bill; Copper-bill; Copper-nose; 

 Pumpkin-blossom Coot; Smutty; Fitzy ; Sleigh-bell Duck (Maine). * 

 Anas nigra Wils. Am. Orn. viii, 1814, 135, pi. 72 (not of Linn.). 



Oidemia americana Sw. & Rich. F. B.-A. ii, 1831, 450— Baied, B. N. Am. 1858,807; Cat. N. 

 Am. B. 1859, No. 604— A. O. U. Check List,1886, No. 163— Ridgw. Man. N. Am. B. 

 1887,111. 

 (Edemia americana Coues, Key, 1872, 293; Check List, 1873, No. 516; 2d ed. 1882. No. 737; 

 B. N. W. 1874, 581.— Ridgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 630— B. B. & R. Water B. N. Am. ii, 

 1884,89. 

 Fuligula (Oidemia) americana Nutt. Man. ii, 1834,422. 



Fuligula americana Aud. Orn. Biog. v, 1839, 117,pl.408; Synop. 1839,290; B. Am. vi,1843, 

 343, pi. 403. 



Hab. Coasts and larger inland waters of northern North America, south in winter to 

 the Ohio River, New Jersey, and California. Mountains of Colorado (Boulder Co., June! ; 

 Mrs. M. A. Maxwell). 



Sp. Chae. Adult male: Entire plumage uniform deep black, the neck very faintly 

 glossed with dull violaceous, the feathers somewhat distinctly defined; basal half of the 

 maxilla, except a stripe along the tomium, bright orange (yellowish in the dried skin), the 

 remainder of the bill black; iris hazel; legs and feet dull black. "The bulging part of the 

 upper mandible is bright orange, paler above, that color extending to a little before the 

 nostrils; the rest of the upper mandible, including its basal margin to the breadth of from 

 three- to two-twelfths of an inch, black, as in the lower mandible. Iris brown. Feet brown- 

 ish black" (Audubon). Adult female: Above, dull dark grayish brown, feathers of the 

 back and scapulars tipped with lighter; lower parts lighter, the pale t ps broader, though 

 lacking on the posterior portions; lateral and lower parts of the head and neck nearly uni- 

 form very pale grayish brown, quite abruptly defined against the uniform dark brown of 

 the pileum and nape. Bill entirely black. Young: Upper parts, chest, sides, and flanks, 

 uniform dark grayish brown; sides of head and neck, chin and throat, dirty whitish, tinged 

 with brownish gray, quite abruptly defined against the dark brown of the pileum and nape; 

 abdomen whitish, each feather marked with a dusky grayish brown bar just beneath the 

 surface, some of these bars exposed; anal region and crissum grayish brown, the feathers 

 tipped with w^hite. Bill and feet black. 



Total length, about 17 to 19 inches; extent, 29 to 34. Male: Wing. 8.75-9.50; culmen, 1.65- 

 1.80; tarsus, 1.65-2.00; middle toe, 2-50-2.80. Female, slightly smaller. 



The Black Scoter is a northern species which visits the United 

 States in winter. It is another of those species, usually classed 

 as "sea ducks," which occur more or less numerously on 

 the larger waters of the interior. Professor Cooke, in his "Bird 



Cf. Tkumbull, Names and Portraits of Birds. 



