LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 121 



It is surprising that none of the ninneroiis ornithologists who have 

 visited Labrador have ever found and identified a nest of the Ameri- 

 can scoter since Audubon's time, but anj'one who has ever attempted 

 to explore into the interior of this discouraging country will appre- 

 ciate why. The region is so vast, so hopelessly impassable, and so 

 exceedingly poor in bird life that one soon gives it up in despair. 

 This and all other species are so widely scattered that the chances 

 of finding their nests are very small. I doubt if tlie American scoter 

 migrates very far north to breed; we did not see it north of Hope- 

 dale, though we did see the surf scoter; it has never been found 

 breeding abundantly about Hudson Bay in the northwest territories 

 or on the Arctic coast, and Turner reported it as very scarce about 

 Ungava Bay. Its main breeding grounds have apparently never 

 been found. One would naturally infer then that the large num- 

 bers of this species which winter on our eastern coasts must breed in 

 the interior of the Labrador peninsula, probably in the southern 

 half of it, and perhaps near the marshy coasts of James Bay and 

 the southern half of Hudson Bay ; all of which regions are sadly in 

 need of further exploration. 



The American scoter undoubtedly breeds regularly, but not abun- 

 dantly in Newfoundland. My friend, J. K. Whitaker, told me that 

 he had seen this duck on Grand Lake with a brood of young, 

 though his attempts to find a nest have proved unsuccessful. This 

 is another vast region, difficult to travel in and largely unexplored. 



I have a set of 9 eggs in my collection, said to be of this species, 

 taken by Eev. C. E. Whitaker on Gary Island, Mackenzie Bay, on 

 June 10, 1910 ; the nest is described as made of down in a tussock of 

 grass. The down is rather dark in color, varying from "bone 

 brown " to " dusky drab " and is flecked with bits of whitish down, 

 uniformly mixed with the dark down; the down is mixed with bits 

 of dry leaves, pieces of grass, and small sticks. 



Eggs. — The American scoter is said to lay from G to 10 eggs. 

 They vary in shape from ovate to elliptical ovate. The shell is clean 

 and smooth, but without gloss. The color varies from " light buff " 

 or " pale pinkish buff " to " cartridge buff." The measurements of 

 TjS eggs, in various collections, average G1.9 by 41,7 millimeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure 72.5 by 46, C3 by 46.2, 

 and 53 by 33.6 millimeters. 



Young. — Nothing seems to be known about the period of incuba- 

 tion. This duty is performed solely by the female, who is entirely 

 deserted by the male at this season. Doctor Nelson (1887) writes: 



A.s the set of eggs is completed, the male gradually loses interest in the 

 female and soon deserts her to join great flocks of his kind along the sea- 

 slioro, usually keeping in the vicinity of a bay, inlet, or the mouth of some 

 large stream. These flocks are formed early in .Tune and continue to grow 



