WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 59: 
in the North of the New World, going as far as California on 
migration. It lays eight or more eggs about midsummer, of a 
creamy colour and smooth surface. It is remarkable for its 
power of swimming in swift streams, but frequents the sea in 
winter. 
The Scoters (Oedemia) are large diving-ducks with good- 
sized bills, black plumaged in the male and sooty-brown in the 
female sex, breeding inland in the north, and frequenting the 
seain winter. They build on the ground and lay cream-coloured 
eggs. None occur in India, but some may be looked for on the 
Chinese coast. 
The Common Scoter. 
Oedemia nigra, SALVADORI, Brit. Mus. Cat., Birds, 
Vol) XXXVI p. - 408. 
Is black all over in the male, with the black bill, which 
has a knob at the base, marked with a broad bright yellow 
streak down the centre ; the legs are dark-olive. The female is 
dark-brown with some white on the throat and abdomen, a 
black bill and olive legs, the eyes are dark in both. The male 
is about twenty inches long, with bill about two and-a-half, 
shank nearly two, and closed wing nine and-a-half. 
The common Scoter ranges from Iceland through Lapland, 
east to the Taimyr Peninsula, and winters as far south as the 
Mediterranean ; it is not a very likely bird to occur in Eastern 
Asia, where its place is taken by the following species :— 
The American Scoter. 
Oedemia americana, SALVADOR!I, Brit. Mus. Cat., Birds, 
Vol. XXVII, p. 404. 
This is very similar to the last, but has the knob on the 
male’s bill all yellow, as is the upper bill generally, but with a 
scarlet flush along the sides. Although chiefly an American 
bird, it is found in North-East Asia, and visits Corea and 
Japan in winter. 
The Velvet Scoter. 
Oedemia fusca, SatvaportI, Brit. Mus. Cat., Birds, 
Vol. XXVII, p. 406. 
Is a considerably bigger bird than the last two, with the dark 
plumage diversified by a white wing-bar in both sexes. ae 
