THE WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. 813 



sparingly resident in summer, their numbers are greatly augmented in October 

 and early November and their ranks are normally depleted again by the tirst of 

 May. Speaking r(_)Uglily, they are everywhere during the winter season; but, 

 UK^re accurately, they are stretched out in a thin line which closel}' parallels the 

 eight hundred miles of shoreline which our great inlet, with its tributaries, 

 boasts. If their distribution were platted, black spots or patches would appear 

 on our diagram opposite the smaller bays and minor estuaries, while heavy 

 shading, or "scumble," would be recjuired to indicate their abundance in nar- 

 row passages. 



The precise alignment of this great black arm}' is determined in part b\' 

 the range of a shotgun, and more, perhaps, by the outlines of the reefs, mussel- 

 beds, and barnacle-covered rocks which extend along our shores. The birds 

 follow the fortunes of the tide thruout the day, feeding greedily as the retreat 

 of the water makes otherwise unattainable depths accessible, and following u]) 

 tlie return movement no less eagerly yet always a gun-shot offshore. 



The Coots feed not only upon fish and crustaceans, but ujion barnacles, 

 mussels, and clams as well. These last they de\'our shells and all. up to a 

 diameter of two inches or more, and their digestion appears to be in no wise 

 impaired by this heroic diet. Their flesh, as a consecjuence, is delightfully 

 immune from the attack of the White ]\Ian, altho the Indian has eaten "Siwash 

 Duck" from time immemorial. A fat Coot will weigh up to six or seven 

 pounds, thus exceeding the avoirdupois of the much larger-looking Black Brant. 



Scoters have considerable difficulty in rising from the water, and, like 

 Loons, require a good deal of sea-room. The feet assist the wings for some 

 moments as the birds are getting launched, and the lalioring movement of the 

 wings gives rise to a murmuring soimd which is not tinpleasant to the ear. 

 Indeed, a teeming bav, a-hum with the music of a thousand flving Scoters, is 

 an orchestra in itself and needs no help of wind or wave to write its score upon 

 the heart. It is of the sea, salty. 



At the time of the bird's maximum fatness, the tlight of the Scoter is but 

 little more than an effort to keep out of the water, and it is abandoned with 

 evident relief. During migrations, however, the birds are capable of rapid 

 flight, mox'ing as thev do in straggling companies numbering from a dozen to 

 several hundred. Occasionally, the Scoters fall into line, goose-fasliion, and 

 one looks twice to see if it be not, indeed, a flock of passing Brant. If obliged 

 to beat against the wind, as upon the Pacific Ocean, the flock flies li>w, rising 

 over the crest of each billow, and disappearing in every hollow in urder to get 

 what shelter it may. 



On Semiahmoo Spit these birds are much hunted — nc^t at all for the e.xcel- 

 lence of their flesh, but because the supph- is unfailing and because of their 

 interest as winged targets. The Scoters feed by himdreds during the day on 

 Dravton Harbor, Init feel impelled to leave its uncertainties toward nightfall 



