AMERICAN SCOTER 339 



brown; bill, blackish, marked or streaked with yellow near nostril, without the 

 protuberance of the male; eye, brown. Body, Tail and Wings, dark dusky brown, 

 tips of worn feathers sometimes giving a slight cross-barred pattern; breast, paler 

 brown than back; first primary feather (see Glossary), slightly emarginate; wing- 

 lining, dusky brown and silvery grey; axillars, dusky brown; feet, olive to black- 

 ish, with dusky webs. 



JUVENILE. During first autumn the sexes are alike, and similar to adult 

 female but paler; upperparts. deep rich brown, darkest on crown; chest and sides, 

 paler brown; breast, whitish, marked with greyish brown; belly, brownish (in this 

 plumage they are known as "grey coots"). During first winter, sexes begin to 

 differentiate, and young males gradually become black, except on breast and wings; 

 bill begins to develop colour and shape of bill of adult. Second autumn, after 

 first postnuptial moult, plumage is fully adult, and the bill developed in colour 

 and size. Wing of Male. As in adult female but first primary (see Glossary) slightly 

 different shape, being more tapered than emarginate. Wing of Female. As in 

 adult female but lesser and middle coverts, lighter brown; first primary, slightly 

 less emarginate. 



SPECIMEN IDENTIFICATION 



MALE. General effect: A large, absolutely coal-black duck, without any white 

 or lighter colour. Chief distinguishing features (a) hind toe with lobe, (b) yellow 

 protuberance at base of bill above, (c) feathering of forehead ends square across 

 base of mill, (d) high forehead and rounded head. 



The absence of any white in the plumage, and the yellow protuberance on 

 bill, will separate from all other ducks. 



FEMALE. General effect: A large, dusky-brown duck, with whitish cheeks. 

 Chief features (a) hind toe with lobe, (b) very dark crown, clearly defined against 

 cheeks, chin and throat, (c) and (d) as in male. 



The whitish cheeks and foreneck with dark crown and hindneck are distinctive 

 features. The female Surf Scoter also shows palish cheeks but the nape is whitish 

 as well. Features (c) and (d) will always distinguish from the other Scoters. 



JUVENILE. The juvenile can always be distinguished from the juveniles and 

 adults of the other scoters by features (c) and (d) above. See "Description." 



FIELD MARKS 



ON THE WATER. The most "duck-like" of the scoters. The absolutely black 

 coloration of the male, unrelieved by any white, and its yellow "butter-bill" are 



the chief marks. The blackish-brown female 

 has much whiter cheeks than the female 

 Surf Scoter but is difficult to separate in 

 life from that species, which, however, shows 

 two fairly distinct whitish face-patches. The 

 most outstanding characteristic of the Amer- 

 ican Scoters on the water is the carriage 



of the head: this is held high, the bill being either horizontal or tipped upward, 

 never deflected downward as in the other scoters. 



IN FLIGHT. The flight is finer and neater than that of the other scoters; 

 and both sexes show a silvery sheen on the under-surface of the primaries. They 

 rise from the water more easily than most Diving Ducks and, on their feeding 



