THE SCOTERS 283 



THE SCOTERS 



The last diving ducks here treated of are the two species of 

 scoter, readily distinguished in the field by the fact that the common- 

 scoter is entirely black, while the velvet-scoter shows, both on the 

 water and in flight, a conspicuous white wing-bar. The common- 

 scoter breeds in some numbers in the north of Scotland, especially on 

 the " flows " of Caithness and Sutherland, and has more recently been 

 recorded as nesting at one locality in Ireland. But in the autumn 

 and winter months enormous flocks may be seen at sea off* our 

 eastern coasts and in the English Channel. Sometimes for miles they 

 may be seen scattered over the surface, only approaching our shores 

 in order to feed on the mussel-beds, and just outside the breakers. 



Much less appears to be known of the courtship of the Scoters 

 than of the other diving ducks, probably because much of it takes 

 place at sea before the birds return to their breeding-grounds on the 

 moors. E. T. Booth states that in early morning the drakes in a 

 sportive and amusing manner flap round and round the object of 

 their admiration, afterwards washing and splashing in the water, 

 sending the spray flying in all directions. Seebohm tell us that in 

 early spring the drake calls to the duck with a double note which is 

 not unmusical, 1 but the usual note is a grating " kr, kr, kr," not unlike 

 that of the tufted-duck. Faber writes the drake's note as " tii-tu, til, 

 tit" and the harsh response of the duck as "re-re-re-re-re." 



In Iceland they reach the coast in April and arrive at their breed- 

 ing-grounds about the beginning of May, but the breeding season is 

 decidedly late, and it is rarely that full clutches are met with in North 

 Scotland before the end of May or the beginning of June, while in 

 Iceland the best time is about mid-June. The duck alone incubates, 

 and the drake at the beginning of the period is generally to be seen 

 on the water not far away, but as the moult comes on he retires to the 



1 Wolley goes further, and says that the notes of a number heard together have a wonder- 

 fully sweet effect. 



