CLASSIFIED NOTES 545 



STELLER'S EIDER [Polysticta stelleri (Pallas); Somali-it xtelleri (Pallas). German, 

 Scheck-Kutt'}. 



1. Description. In Steller's eider the feathering of the face is not continued forward 

 on to the sides of the beak, the cutting edge of which is produced into a distinct angle 

 near its tip. The sexes differ conspicuously in coloration. Length 16 in. [406 mm.]. The 

 male is white, with a patch of pale sea-green in front of the eye, and a black occiput. The 

 throat, middle region of the neck, and the mid-dorsal line of the body to the tail form a 

 continuous black area, glossed with purple ; the outer scapulars are long and sickle- 

 shaped, black, with a sub-median stripe of buff; the wing-coverts are white; the secondaries 

 are of a glossy purplish black, tipped with white, forming a speculum in the closed wing ; 

 the prepectoral region is of a golden buff colour, shading into chesnut-buff on the breast 

 and flanks, and blackish brown on the abdomen ; iris dark brown ; beak lead-colour ; legs 

 and toes dark lead-colour, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. The breeding-grounds of this species lie within the Arctic regions 

 of both Asia and North-west America. In Europe it was said formerly to breed on the 

 Yaranger Fjord and the Murman coast, but the records were generally discredited. More 

 recently, however, Goebel has stated that a few pairs breed off the Ribatchi Peninsula, 

 and possibly it also nests on Novaya Zemlya. In Asia it breeds on the Arctic coast of Siberia 

 from the Taimyr east to Kaintschatka, and in America in small numbers on the northern 

 coast of Alaska, and possibly also on the Aleutian Isles, though the main breeding-grounds 

 lie much farther northward. It has occurred in Europe regularly on the coasts of Scandinavia 

 and the Baltic, and occasionally in Denmark, Germany, France (once), and Heligoland 

 (four times); while in Asia it not only ranges some distance southward, but also winters 

 in numbers in the Kuriles and Commander Isles. In America enormous numbers visit 

 the Aleutian chain in winter, and on the east side it has been met with in Quebec, and 

 once in W. Greenland. Two occurrences in England (Norfolk and Yorks). [F. c. R. J.] 



SURF-SCOTER [Oidemia perapicilldta (Linnaeus). Spectacled, skunkheaded, or hollow- 

 billed-coot (N. America). German, Brillen-Ente]. 



1. Description. Distinguished by the fact that the feathering at the base of the beak extends 

 forward to a point reaching to the hinder border of the nostril. The sexes differ conspicuously 

 in coloration. Length 18 in. [457 mm.]. The male is entirely black save a white bar across 

 the forehead, a white band down the back of the neck ; iris yellow ; beak crimson, with 

 a black oval patch on each side near its base. The female recalls the female of the common- 

 scoter, but differs in having a white patch both before and behind the eye, and in the 

 more uniform coloration of the under parts, which are without perceptible markings, 

 [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. This species is only known to breed in the northern parts of North 

 America, and perhaps also in Eastern Siberia. The statement that it nests in Newfoundland 

 seems to lack confirmation, but Audubon found it nesting in Labrador, and it probably breeds 

 in the Hudson's Bay district. Its main breeding-grounds must be somewhere near the Barren 

 grounds of the Anderson River and the Arctic coasts of Alaska, for enormous flocks of males 

 are to be met with off the coasts in the breeding season, but up to the present few nests have 

 been found. Breeding is said to have once taken place in Greenland, but this also requires 

 confirmation. In Asia, Buturlin states that it is found in the Tchukchi Peninsula, and 

 probably it also breeds there. In winter its migration range in America extends south 

 normally to S. Carolina, and exceptionally to Florida, the Bermudas, and Jamaica on the east 

 side; on the west from the Aleutian Isles to Lower California. It is also a casual in Greenland, 



