144 ANATIDA 
into vast assemblages around our coasts, darken the waters 
for miles around. Off the east side of England this Duck 
is so abundant that its numbers, thickly scattered over 
the open sea, appear almost countless. In spring, about 
April, Scoters ieave our seas for more northern latitudes, 
though a few immature birds remain along our coasts 
throughout the summer. In Dublin Bay I have seen 
Scoters and Shags together on the water, and the manner 
in which the two species descend offers an interesting 
contrast. The Shag, shghtly raising itself out of the water, 
takes a distinct ‘header’; the Scoter disappears without 
warning or splash, as though it were suddenly gripped 
from beneath and pulled under water. Scoters dive rather 
obliquely, and travelling under the surface, generally re- 
appear some distance from where they first descend. 
They are fast swimmers, and may be seen, especially in 
the early spring, cruising on the water with their heads 
and necks stretched out, after the fashion of Shovelers. 
Scoters, like other Diving Ducks, constantly raise them- 
selves upright on the water and flap their wings, thereby 
arranging their feathers and dislodging drops of water 
which have remained among them after diving. In a vast 
company of these birds it is most entertaining to watch 
several of them suddenly rising up and flapping like so 
many ‘ Jack-in-the-Boxes.’. Unlke most Diving Ducks, the 
Scoter floats comparatively high on the water, at times 
cresting the rough billows with considerable buoyancy. It 
seldom leaves the open sea even in rough weather, but after 
a furious gale it 1s occasionally found near land, dead, or 
in an exhausted condition. Lord Ventry has picked up near 
Inch Point, co. Kerry, ‘‘ water-soaked and storm-driven 
Scoters scarcely able to breathe” (Payne-Gallwey, ‘ Fowler 
in Ireland,’ p. 110). 
Watters mentions that ‘‘on two occasions this Scoter 
has been shot whilst apparently searching for food along 
the bottom of wet ditches and open drains” (‘ Birds of 
Ireland,’ p. 213). A few instances of the occurrence of this 
species away from the tide have been recorded, viz., in Wilt- 
shire (twenty miles inland), Oxford, and Windermere. It 
has also visited several Irish rivers, as the Liffey, Suir, 
Shannon, and Blackwater, also Lough Neagh. 
Food.—The Scoter subsists mainly on shell-fish, often 
obtained at a depth of several fathoms. 
In countries where this bird is eaten, numbers are caught 
