THE VELVET-SCOTER. l8 ? 



Witli regard to its distribution on the shores of the British Islands, the Velvet- 

 Scoter is only an occasional visitor to the Shetlands after southerly gales ; it is a 

 common winter species in the Orkneys, and they have been observed in the middle of 

 summer. On the western coast of Scotland and the islands it is not common, but 

 plentiful on the east coast, a distribution which is suggestive of its line of 

 migration and absence as a nester in Fseroe and Iceland. Mr. Robert Gray, (" Birds 

 of the West of Scotland," p. 381), says that off Dunbar he has seen hundreds of 

 both species on the water, within two hundred yards of the shore. Mr. Abel 

 Chapman considers on the Northumberland coast Velvet- Scoters are far less numerous 

 of the two species, although a small company or two of half-a-dozen birds may 

 generally be met with in the same localities as the Common Scoter. 



During and after heavy weather it is not uncommon on the Norfolk coast, 

 numbers having been driven towards the land, and at such times it has also 

 frequently occurred inland. The majority of those obtained are immature birds, 

 (" Birds of Norfolk," vol. iii., pp. 196-7). The Velvet-Scoter occurs off every part 

 of the south coast, but never in large flocks, and usually in company with the 

 common species. 



Mr. Haigh considers it is a rare bird on the Welsh coast, he has only met 

 with it once ; it is, however, occasionally seen in- company with flocks of 

 the Common Scoter. Messrs. Macpherson and Duckworth, (" The Birds of 

 Cumberland "), consider it a rare casual visitor to the English side of the Solway, 

 but more plentiful on the Scotch side. 



In Ireland, Sir R. Payne-Gallwey considers the Velvet-Scoter comparatively 

 rare on the coasts, when he has met with them it has always been at some distance 

 at sea. " The fishermen," he says, " have convinced me they have not unfrequently 

 met with this bird in small bunches of five or six, far out at sea, and where the 

 Common Scoter would not be likely to be found." This quite bears out what 

 has already been remarked as to its habits, on the east coast. 



There is strong probability, from the evidence, ("A Fauna of the Moray Basin," 

 vol. ii., p. 116), that the Velvet-Scoter has occasionally nested in Northern Scotland. 

 On June i4th, 1876, Mr. J. J. Dalgleish and Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown observed a 

 pair a little way off the shore, at the head of Loch Scridain, on the west coast of 

 Mull. 



Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown found this Scoter on the tundras of the 

 Lower Petchora, but only succeeded in taking one nest, this was under a creeping, 

 matted, dwarf birch no doubt Betula nana, which is so common on the tundra,- 

 it was far from water, and contained eight eggs and a good supply of down. 



The American representative of the European Velvet-Scoter is CE. velvetina, a 



