COMMON SCOTER. 53 
The note of this Duck is rough and grating. That of the 
male has been likened to the monosyllables ‘tu, tu, tu,’ and 
that of the female to ‘ra, ra, ra.’ 
The nest of this Duck is described as being placed by the 
side of water in the most unfrequented situations, often far 
inland among brushwood or on stony ground; and made of 
grasses, twigs, and the dry leaves and the stalks of plants 
under, the shelter of a willow or birch, or in a tuft of her- 
bage, the down of the bird itself being made use of for 
lining. 
After the female has laid, the male birds collect together 
in flocks, and repair to the coast. 
The eggs are from five or six, to seven or eight, or nine, 
in number;—Thieneman says as many as ten, of a pale buff 
colour, tinged with green. 
Male; weight, about two pounds nine ounces; length, one 
foot six inches, or over; bill, black, and grooved along the 
edges, where it is broad and flat. There is a knob of the 
same colour at the base of the upper mandible, and a space 
along the ridge of orange yellow. The rim round the eye 
is of the same colour. Iris, dusky brown. Head, black, with 
a tinge of glossy purple blue; crown, neck, nape, chin, throat, 
breast, and back, black. 
The wings, which are short, have the second quill feather 
the longest. The first is strongly notched at about half its 
length. Greater and lesser wing coverts, primaries, secondaries, 
tertiaries, greater and lesser under wing coverts, tail, of six- 
teen sharp-pointed feathers and wedge-shaped, the middle ones 
being the longest, all, as also the tail coverts, black. Legs 
and toes, dusky reddish black; webs, nearly quite black. 
The female has the bill dusky black; the knob scarcely 
raised. Head on the sides, paler than the rest; crown, neck, 
and nape, blackish brown, the edges of the feathers being of 
a lighter hue; chin and throat, greyish white. Breast, paler 
brown than the upper parts, and the feathers of a silky 
texture; back, black brown, the feathers edged with a paler 
shade. The greater and lesser wing coverts have also the 
edges a little lighter; under tail coverts, dark brown. Legs 
and toes, brown, with a tinge of green; webs, almost black. 
The young resemble the female at first. Towards the 
winter, the sides of the head, neck in front, and on the sides, 
and chin, dull greyish white. The breast mottled with brown 
and white. The orange on the bill shews itself by degrees. 
