60 WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 
black male has his bill, which is swollen at the base, black 
there and round the edge, orange-yellow elsewhere, and _ his 
legs red. He has also a small white patch under the eye. The 
dark-brown female has a large dirty white patch before the 
eye and a small one behind it ; her bill is dark slate-colour. 
The male is about twenty-two inches long, with a bill rather 
over two and-a-half, shank just under two, and wing rather over 
ten and-a-half. 
This Scoter inhabits the northern parts of the Old World 
generally, migrating south in winter—unless, indeed, records 
from Eastern Asia concern the next species. 
The Eastern Velvet Scoter. 
Oedemta carbo, SALVADORI, Brit. Mus. Cat., Birds, Vol. 
POX ps 4a. 
In this species the male’s bill has amore definite knob at 
the base and is red at the sides, and the white eye-spot is 
situated further back. It is the characteristic white-wing- 
barred Scoter of North-Eastern Asia, and is found in winter 
on the coasts of Japan and China. 
The Surf Scoter. 
Oedemia perspicillata, SALVADORI, Brit. Mus. Cat., 
Birds, Vol. XXVIII, jp. 412: 
Is all black in the male, except for a white patch on the 
crown and another on the back of the neck; the bill is high 
and swollen all along, unlike that of any other Duck, and is 
gaily coloured with scarlet, yellow, white and black. The legs 
are red and the eyes white. The dark-brown female is marked 
with white on the back of the neck, the throat, and the face; 
her bill is dark slate, and less exaggerated in form than the 
male’s. 
The male is about twenty-one inches long, with the great bill 
two and-a-half, shank about two, and closed wing nine and- 
a-half. 
This Scoter is an Arctic American bird, but also occurs in 
the East Asiatic coasts at times. 
The Eiders are also northern diving-ducks, especially marine 
in habits. They breed in the high north on the ground, laying 
eggs of an olive or greenish drab colour. The males are 
chiefly black-and-white, and their females mottled-brown, 
