ANATINjE — the ducks — melanetta. 93 



This genus differs from (Edemia and Pelionetta — to which it is otherwise nearly allied — in 

 the form of the bill, particularly in the outline of the feathering at the base, as defined above. 

 Two species only are known, one peculiar to Northern North America, the other to the Pala> 

 arctic Region, but occurring also in Greenland and Alaska. Their differential characters are as 

 follows : — 



1. M. fusca. Maxilla much swollen near the rictus, the base of the culmen only slightly 



elevated ; reddish color of the maxilla crossed on each side by a black line, running ob- 

 liquely from the black above the nostril to that on each side of the nail. Adult male : 

 Wing, iO.80-11.40 inches; culmen, 1.80-1.70; depth of maxilla at base, 1.10; tarsus, 

 1.70-1.80; middle toe, 2.75 (two examples). Hab. Palsearctic Region, Greenland, and 

 Alaska. 



2. M. velvetina. Maxilla deeply sunken near the rictus, the base of the culmen elevated 



into a prominent knob ; reddish color of the maxilla not crossed by a black line. Adult 

 male: Wing, 10.65-11.40 inches; culmen, 1.40-1.70; depth of maxilla at base, 1.10- 

 1.30; tarsus, 1.80-2.10; middle toe, 2.70-2.90 (eleven examples l ). Hab. Northern 

 North America. 



Melanetta velvetina 



THE VELVET SCOTER. 



Anas fusca, Wils. Am. Orn. VIII. 1814, 137, pi. 72 (not of Linn.). 



Fuligula [Oidemia) fusca, Bonap. Synop. 1828, 390. — Nctt. Man. II. 1834, 419. 



Oidemia fusca, Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 449. 



(Edemia fusca, Coues, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 738. 



Fuligula fusca, Aud. Orn. Biog. III. 1835, 454, pi. 247 ; Synop. 1839, 280 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 332, 



pi. 401. 

 ? Fuligula Umaculata, Herbert, Field Sports, 2d ed. II. 1848, 366, fig. (young). 

 Oideinia (Pelionclta) Umaculata, Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, S08. 

 Oidemia velvetina, Cass. Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. V. 1850, 126. 

 Melanetta velvetina, Baiud, B. N. Am. 1858, 805 ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 601. — Ridgw. Nom. 



N. Am. B. 1881, no. 632. 

 (Edemia fusca, var. (?), Coues, Key, 1872, 294 ; Check List, 1873, no. 517. 

 (Edemia fusca, b. (?) velvetina, Coues, Birds N. W. 1874, 582. 

 Oidemia Deglandii, Bonap. Kcv. Crit. Degland, 1850, 108. 



Hab. Northern North America ; chiefly maritime, but occurring on various inland waters ; 

 south in winter to the Middle States, Great Lakes, Mississippi River near St. Louis, Illinois River, 

 and Southern California. 



Sp. Char. Adult male : Base of the culmen elevated into a prominent knob ; lateral base of 

 the maxilla sunken beneath the feathering of the lores. Plumage uniform brownish black. A 

 crescentic spot beneath the eye, and extending backward for half an inch or more, secondaries, and 

 greater wing-coverts, white. Knob of the bill, with base, and margin of the maxilla, black ; 

 "sides of the bill red-lead, fading into orange ;" "nail vermilion, the anterior flat portion of the 

 upper mandible whitish ; " iris "white tinged with straw-yellow; legs scarlet, with black webs, 

 and a tinge of black on the joints" (Nuttall). 2 Young male : Dark sooty-brown, the head and 

 neck sooty-black ; white on wings as in the adult, but no white spot beneath the eye. Adult 

 female : Uniform grayish fuliginous, the wings darker ; white speculum as in the male, but no 

 white about the head, or with faint indication of white spot at base of maxilla and behind the eye. 



1 With the exception of the culmen, which in only one of eleven specimens reaches the minimum of 

 the same in M. fusca, the average measurements of this series would approximate much more nearly to the 

 maximum than to the minimum. 



2 Audubon's description of the Velvet Scoter refers wholly to the European species (M. fusca), which 

 has the bill and feet colored very differently from the American bird. 



