A^ELVET-SCOTER 



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Velvet-Scoter 

 ((Edemia fusea). 



From the typical species the \-elvet-scoter is easily 

 distinguished by the presence of a white wing-bar, 

 which is, however, much less conspicuous in the 



duck than in the drake. The species takes its name from the velvety 



black plumage of the drake, relieved only by a white patch behind the 



eye and the aforesaid wing- bar ; but sharply contrasted with the 



orange beak, which has a swollen black base and a black line along the 



upper surface, and likewise with the orange-red legs and toes, the latter 



connected by black webs. 



In the non- breeding 



dress the drake's plum- 

 age, although darker, is 



almost indistinguishable 



from that of the duck. 



The latter is sooty brown 



above and paler beneath, 



with dirty white patches 



before and behind the 



eyes, a lead - coloured 



beak, and dull red legs 



and toes, with dark webs. 



A remarkable difference 



from the typical scoter is 



to be found in the fact 



that young birds are like 



the duck ; this earlier 



assumption of the dark 



colour indicating a 



further specialisation. 



Ducklings are dark 



brown above, with a square spot below the eye, a patch on the wing, 



and the under-parts white. 



The breeding-range of the velvet-scoter extends from Scandinavia 



along the Arctic shores of Europe and Asia to the Pacific ; and from 



these northern resorts the birds descend in winter occasionally as far 



south as the north of Spain, and constantly to the British Isles, the 



Adriatic, the Black and Caspian Seas, and the valley of the Yang-tse- 



Kiang. As might have been expected, these scoters are much more 



common on the eastern than on the opposite coast of Great Britain ; 



and the same holds good with regard to Ireland, where, however, only 



some twenty occurrences of the species were recorded up to the close 



VELVET-SCOTEK. 



