Jo4 



DUCK GROUP 



of last ccntur\-. The white \vint;-bar and eye-spot render the drakes 

 always distinguishable from the ordinary scoter with which they 

 frequently associate. In the Orkneys and Shetlands, where they are 

 regular visitors, velvet-scoters usually arrive in September or October, 

 and take advantage of the shelter afforded by the numerous inlets 

 and bays, where they congregate in flocks of from half-a-score to 

 double that number till the following spring. With the exception that 

 during the breeding-season it ascends rivers to a considerable distance 

 and frequents inland lakes, often nesting on the Siberian tundra 

 at a considerable distance from water, the velvet-scoter agrees in the 

 matter of habits with the typical species. 



Surf-Seotep ^^^^ ^'^^^ '^"'^ rarest, and at the same the largest, of 



(CEdemia ^'^^ three species of the present group which visit 



perspicillata) ^'^^ British Isles is the surf-scoter, easily recognised 



in the case of museum specimens by the circumstance 



that the feathers of the crown of the head extend farther forward on 



the beak than do those on the sides of the face, and in the field by 



SUKK-SCOTKR. 



the uniformly velvet-black plumage of the drake, relieved by a large 

 squared white patch on the crown (occasionally absent), and a 

 triangular one on the najie. In the same sex the beak is bright red, 

 with a large black spot on each of the much swollen sides, the eye is 



