[168] BIRDS OF OREGON 



At such times they are quite tame and unsuspicious and allow a reason- 

 ably close approach if sudden movements are avoided. The gaudily 

 marked drakes and more demure females are usually found together, 

 sometimes in pairs, but more often in small groups of three or four up 

 to a dozen or more. As spring approaches, they are frequently found in 

 trios of two males and one female, each of the former undoubtedly trying 

 to win the demure female as a mate. Little has been written about the 

 courtship of these birds. Bent (19x5) stated that B. J. Bretherton in 1896 

 had written the best account, as follows: 



The writer has often watched the males in spring, calling, and the actions of these birds may 

 justly be said to resemble the crowing of a rooster. In giving forth their call the head is 

 thrown far back with the bill pointed directly upward and widely open; then with a jerk the 

 head is thrown forward and downward as the cry is uttered, and at the same time the wings 

 are slightly expanded and drooped. Afterwards they will rise in the water and flap their 

 wings. 



White-winged Scoter; Sea Coot: 



Melanitta deglandi (Bonaparte) 



DESCRIPTION. "Bill swollen at base over nostrils and on sides; tip orange in male; 

 feathers of lores coming close to nostrils, as far forward as those of forehead. Adult 

 male: eyes white; plumage black or sooty, with white eye patch and wing speculum. 

 Adult female: eyes brown; plumage sooty gray, darker above; wing speculum white." 

 (Bailey) Downy young: "The downy young of the white-winged scoter is thickly 

 covered with soft, silky down. The upper parts, including the upper half of the 

 head, down to the base of the lower mandible and a space below the eye, are uniform 

 'clove brown,' shading off to 'hair brown' on the flanks and into a broad collar of 

 'hair brown' which encircles the lower neck. The chin and throat are pure white, 

 which shades off to grayish white on the lower cheeks and the sides of the neck. 

 The under parts are silvery white, and there is an indistinct, tiny white spot under 

 the eye." (Bent) Si%e-' "Length 19.75-13.00, wing 10.65-11.40, bill 1.40-1.70." 

 (Bailey) Nest: Usually a depression in the ground, lined with grass, moss, and 

 down and concealed beneath some small shrub. Eggs: 9 to 14, "sea-shell pink." 

 DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from northwestern Alaska, Hudson Bay, and Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence to southern Manitoba, central North Dakota, and northeastern Wash- 

 ington. Winters south to South Carolina, Great Lakes, and Lower California. In 

 Oregon: Abundant winter and fairly common summer resident of coast. Appears only 

 casually in interior. 



THE BIG, clumsy, heavy-bodied White-winged Scoter, or Sea Coot, is the 

 most abundant of the three species represented in the great rafts found 

 along the Oregon coast, our records showing it to be present every month. 

 Its flight is somewhat labored but swift and straight once it leaves the 

 water. It is one of the most abundant seafowl, constituting a large part 

 of the V- or U-shaped flocks seen flying up and down the coast or crossing 

 into the bays and lakes to feed in their winter waters. It is common on 

 the ocean and also on the bays and big fresh-water lakes adjacent to the 

 coast. When its present abundance is considered, it is remarkable that 



