8i2 'I'll I", WHIT!-, WINGED SCOTER. 



lia\-inr to distinguish iIkmii ihiring tlieir sumlRTii residence fn>ni their lieller- 

 knovvii compeers. Tliey lia\e tlie same perverse liahit of dallvinj; in our waters 

 thru the summer season (without giving- the shghtest assurance that thev nest 

 with us ) and I saw a company of some two hunchTd Americans idhiig otifsiiorc 

 near W'aldroii Island i>n the _'_'nd of June. 1905. 



No. 328. 



WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. 



A. O. U. No. 165. Oidemia deglanJi ilonap. 



Synonyms. — \\'mTK-wiNGED Coot. Sea Coot. Scooter. American 

 Velvet Scoter. P.l.\ck Di'ck. Sqt.xw Dtck. Fish Duck. Ce.\m Digger. 

 Sea Di'CK. 



Description. — Adult male: Speculum white: a white spot below and includ- 

 ing eye; entire remaining plumage deep Ijrownish black; culmen gibbous at base, 

 but nearly covered by feathers which reach laterally almost to nostrils ; loral 

 feathering usually, but not always, extending further forward than frontal feath- 

 ers ; bill black, varied by orange-red on lateral and terminal portions ( but not on 

 knob or edges). Black less intense in winter. Adult female and immature: 

 Plain duskv brown, a little lighter below; and with two dull whitish spots on side 

 of head, on lore, and car-coverts; speculum white; extension of loral feathers as in 

 adult male, but bill onlv slightly gibbons, and with less orange. Length i()-00-.24.oo 

 (482.6-(i09.6) ; wing 11.00 (279.4); tail 3.25 (82.6); bill along culmen 1.60 

 (40.fi) : anterior margin fif loral feathering to tip of bill 1.55 (39.4) ; tarsus 

 2.00 (50.8). 



Recognition Marks. — Mallard size or larger; plumage black or dark brown 

 ('female): white wing-|)atcli (speculum) distincti\e. 



Nesting. — Xest: on the ground, under a bush, often at a considerable dis- 

 tance frrmi water, lined heavily with twigs, dried plants, and moss, with a few 

 feathers. Eggs: 6-10, i)alc buff or light greenish buff. .-\v. size, 2.68x1.83 

 (68.1x46.5'). Scasnn: June ; one brood. 



General Range. — Northern North .\nicrica, breeding from T^abrador, North 

 Dakota, and \\'ashington, to Alaska: south in winter to I^ower California, the 

 Ohio River, and Chesapeake Bay. 



Range in Washington. — Abiuidant resident, except in summer, on Paget 

 Sound and the \\'est Coast — the most common duck; formerly common, now 

 rare, breeder in northern tier of counties east of the Cascades. 



Authorities. — Melaiietta vcl'i-ctina. P.aird, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. TX. 

 1858, ]). 805. C&:S. L--. Rh. D'. Kb. Kk. W. E. 



Specimens. — {V. of W. ) Prov. B. 



THE Scoters are the cliaiactei-istic salt-water ducks, and taken together 

 ]irobabl\- outnumber the remaining winter i^esidents of Puget Sound, Altlio 



