THE VELVET SCOTER. 163 



into the possession of Mr. Bartlett of London ; all 

 these in this country have occurred in winter. It is 

 of nearly equal rarity on the Continent, and few 

 notices of it occur either in any of the recent works 

 devoted to Natural History, or in those books of 

 tours which lately, under the apology of Sport, 

 have recorded some interesting anecdotes on the 

 habits of little known species. 



On the coasts of North America this Scoter is 

 abundant, Wilson states it is common in winter, 

 along the whole coast, from the river St. Lawrence 

 to Florida. Mr. Audubon, in his excursion to the 

 coast of Labrador, found it there, passing on north- 

 ward to breed, in numbers that exceeded all his 

 previous conceptions ; a very few pairs only re- 

 mained to breed there, and he only succeeded in 

 finding a single nest in an extensive fresh-water 

 marsh. It was " snugly placed amid the tall leaves 

 of a bunch of grass, and raised full four inches above 

 the ground." It was composed of withered and 

 rotten weeds, and was lined with the down of the 

 bird. The eggs, considered small for the size of the 

 bird were of a uniform pale yellowish or cream 

 colour. 



THE VELVET SCOTER, (EDEMIA FUSCA. Anas 

 fusca, Linn. (Edemia fusca, Flem., Selby, &c. 

 Great Black Duck, Willugh. Velvet Duck. Velvet, 

 or Double Scoter of British authors. This fine spe- 

 cies is also a sea duck in the most extensive sense, 



