472 



ANSERES. 



ANATID/E. 



ANATID^:. 



(Edemia nigra (Linnaeus*). 



THE COMMON SCOTER. 



Oidemia nhira. 



Q^DEMiA, Fl€m'incf\. — Bill swollen or tuberculated at the base, large, elevated, 

 and strong; the tip mnch depressed, and terminated by a large flat nail, 

 rounded and slightly deflected at the extremity ; mandibles laminated, with the 

 plates broad, strong, and widely set. Nostrils lateral, elevated, oval, placed 

 near the middle of the bill. Wings rather short, pointed. Tail short, graduated, 

 acute. Legs far behind the centre of gravity ; tarsi short ; feet large, of four 

 toes, three in front, and one behind. Outer toe as long as the middle one, 

 and much longer than the tarsus ; hind toe with a large lobated membrane. 



The Common Scoter is principally a visitor to the 

 British coasts in winter, at which season, especially on the 

 eastern side of Scotland and England, it is often to be found 

 in numbers exceeding those of any other species of Duck. 

 At times the waters between the Eastern Counties and 

 Holland are black with them ; and large flocks are to be 



* Anas niyro, Linnaus, Sy.st. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 196 (1766). 

 t Oidemia, Fleming, Philo.sophy of Zoology, ii. p. 260 (1822). 



