BIRDS OF NEW YORK 22 1 



Cayuga lake. Taken j'ears ago. d^ adult. L. A. Fuertes 



Oneida lake. Several taken. Ralph & Bagg 



Great Lakes. 1889. Taken in deep water gill nets. Sterling, Forest and Stream, 34: 



350; see also Linnett, Auk, 7: 88 

 Irondcquoit harf. Feb. 1890. David Bruce 

 Niagara river. Dec. about 1891. James Savage 



Lake Champlain. Dec. 2, 1894. (C. L. Kirke). State Museum Collection 

 Lake Ontario, Monroe co. Dec. 22, 1895. 9 . George F. Guelf 



Erie, Pa. Nov. 13, 1894, (sshot); Dec. 30, 1900, (2). (Bacon). Todd, Hirdsof Erie, p. 526 

 Cayuga, Nov. 3, 1908. (20 seen, 3 shot). E. H. Eaton 



Long Island dates taken from over 30 records in Butcher's Long Island 

 Notes range from November i to April 27. They occur every winter and 

 are commonest at the eastern end of the island. 



Oidemia americana Swainson 

 American Scoter 



Plate 20 



Oidemia americana Swainson in Swainson & Richardson. Fauna Bor. Am., 



1831. 2: 450 



Fuligula americana DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 336, fig. 242 



O i d e m i a a m e r i c a n a A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 163 



oide'iuia, Gr. oiSij/iia, Lat. oedema, swelling, referring to the knob on the bill 



Description. Adult male: Bill much swollen on top at the base, this 

 whole knob and the basal half of the upper mandible yellow, or yellowish 

 orange, the rest including the edges black; whole plumage black. Adult 

 female: Dark grayish brown, under parts lighter; side and under parts of 

 head light grayish, contrasted with the dark brown of the top and back 

 of the head; bill blackish. Young: Similar to female but lighter beneath, 

 the belly obscurely baiTed with grayish browm. 



Length 17-22 inches; wing 8.75-9.5; tarsus 1.7; bill, ctilmen 1.65- 

 i.S, depth of upper mandible at base, male .85-.95, female .7; tarsus 1.75; 

 middle toe and claw 3.25. 



Distinctive marks. Among oui- other scoters this species may be 

 recognized by the unifonn black color of the male; the frontal feathers 

 do not encroach upon the bill as in the other species; tail i6-feathered; 

 the females and }-oung by the unifomi light grayish brown or ding\' whitish 

 color of the cheeks, whereas the female Surf scoter has two whitish patches 

 on the sides of the head and is a larger bird, but the females and yotmg of 

 these two species can not be recognized at a distance. 



