370 Manual of the Game Birds of hidia. 



middle of the bill. Weight up to about 

 i|lb. 



Closely allied to the Golden-eyes are 

 the Scoters. They are marine Ducks, 

 but they sometimes also occur inland. No 

 Scoter has yet been known to visit India, 

 but in the course of time a straggler may 

 be picked up within our limits. I shall 

 indicate the species which occur in Asia. 



All the Scoters resemble the Golden- 

 eyes in the pattern of the primaries, the 

 inner webs being drab, with a dark tip ; 

 the outer webs, entirely dark brown. The 

 axillaries are black or brown. The plumage 

 of the males is black, that of the females 

 brown, and it is varied in some species 

 by the presence of a small amount of 

 white on the head and wings. 



The Common Scoter {(Edemia nigra). 

 — This species has no white whatever on 

 the plumage ; the male being glossy black 

 throughout, and the female brown, paler 

 beneath, and with the throat and the sides 

 of the head grey. The male has a large 

 black knob at the base of the upper man- 

 dible, and the space in front, yellow ; the 

 female has no knob, but the middle 



