8i4 THE SL'RF SCOTER. 



and seek the safety of open water. Tlie wiser birds defer llighl till well after 

 dark, when la\v-abidin<;' gunners ha\e gone home. Huring the passage of the 

 sand-spit the nnlia|)])y birds are subjeetcd to a grilling tire, but none think of 

 rising above danger. The path of the first flock determines the point at which 

 others will follow for the remainder of the evening. It is as tho the word had 

 been passed around that the passage would be attempted at a certain point that 

 night, and successive platoons obey the general order in spite of persecution. 

 The flight is greatly quickened as the s]iit is apjiroached, and should a flock of 

 experienced birds discover the gunner ahead of them, they do not tower or 

 swerve, but each in his course begins a frantic wriggling and twisting, achiev- 

 ing thus a sort of ciirk-screw nintinn. which is really very effective in upsetting 

 the gunner's calculations. In spite of the grim tragedy of the thing it is laugh- 

 able to see the birds perform in this way. like schoolboys liefore the uplifted lash. 



Mr. Bowles writes me that when ;i migrating flock nf Scoters essays to 

 pass a boat at too great a height, say two hundred yards, a xiolent banging of 

 the oars on the side of the boat will cause the whole flock to tumble out of the 

 sky into eas\- gun-shot. The cause of this phenomenon is nut easily found. 



While the eggs of this Scoter l^ne never been taken in \\'ashington, it is 

 possible that a few breed here in the \icinity of the interior lakes. Thcv are 

 late ])reeders: and the nest is a flims\' affair, a mere depression in the earth 

 scratched in a weed-i)atch or untler a bush and marked 1)\' a few weetl-stems 

 and grasses. I^ggs, of a pinkish flesh-color, are laid at the rate of one per day, 

 and incul)ation is nut undertaken until the set of a dozen or so is complete. 

 Prior to absenting herself each da\-. the female ]ilucks dnwn from her breast 

 t(i cii\er her eggs and scrapes lea\es and trash o\'er the wlmle. The male bird 

 Inses interest in familv affairs when his mate is started <in her lung vigil, and 

 he goes in for club-life at the seaside instead. The chicks make their appear- 

 ance in due season, and re(|uire zealous attention from their mother until such 

 time as thev may be large enough to walk, or flw to the ocean. 



No. 329. 



SURF SCOTER. 



A. O. V. No. if/). Oidemia perspicillata (I^inn.). 



Synonyms. — Sfui- Di'ck. Si-;.\ Coot. Squ.wv Dl'CK (Etc. as in preceding 

 species I . 



Description. — Adult iiinlc: A triangular patch on nape and a rounded patch 

 on forehead between eves, shining white; remaining plumage glossy black, duller 

 below; frontal extension of feathers reaching nearly to nostril; bill swollen at 

 base and singularlv variegated in hue, pinkish white on sides, upon which a sharply 

 defined squarish patcli of black, a line of brilliant carmine between this patch and 



