NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 81 



162. King Eider. Somateria spectabilis. 



Range. Northern Hemisphere, breeding in America from Labrador to Green- 

 land and the Arctic Ocean; south in winter to the New England States and rare- 

 ly farther on the eastern side, and to the Aleutians on the Pacific; also casually 

 to the Great Lakes in the interior. 



A handsome and very different species from any of the foregoing, having the 

 crown ashy blue, and the long scapulars black instead of white. It also has a 

 broad V-shaped mark on the throat. Like all the other Eiders, the female is 

 mottled brown and black, the different species being very difficult to separate. 

 The nests are sunk in the ground and lined with down. Eggs number from six 

 to ten. Size 2.80 x 1.80. Data. Point Barrow, Alaska, July 5, 1898. Five eggs. 

 Nest a hollow in the moss on tundra lined with moss and down. Collector, 

 E. A. Mcllhenny. 



1 63. American Scoter. Oidemia americana. 



Range. Northern North America, breeding from Labrador, the Hudson Bay 

 region and the Aleutian Islands northward; winters south to Virginia, the Great 

 Lakes and California. 



Scoters or "Coots" as they are 

 generally called are Sea Ducks 

 whose plumage is almost wholly 

 black; they have fantastically 

 colored and shaped bills. The 

 American Scoter is entirely 

 black without markings; base of 

 bill yellow and orange. This 

 species nest as do the Eiders, 

 often concealing the nest, of 

 grass and feathers, under some 

 overhanging rock. They lay 

 from six to ten eggs of a dingy 

 buff color. Size 2.50 x 1.70. 

 Data. Mackenzie Bay, June 15, 

 1899. Ten eggs. Nest a hollow 

 in the sand, lined with down. 

 [Buff.] 



[164.] Velvet Scoter. Oidemia fusca. 



An Old World species that has accidentally occurred in Greenland. 

 165. White-winged Scoter. Oidemia deglandi. 



Range.-Abundant in North America, breeding from Labrador, North Dakota 

 and British Columbia, northward. Wintering south to the Middle 

 southern Illinois and southern California. white 



The largest of the Scoters, length 22 inches, distinguished b> , large wmte 



E^^3^ 



regarded as good eating, although they are often sold for that P' 

 nest on the ground, generally in long grass or under [ow bushes 

 coarse nest of grasses, and sometimes twigs, lined with feathers, 

 five to eight eggs of a pale buff color. Size 2./5 x l.oo. 



