116 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



731. Somateria stelleri (Pall.) Jard. B 598. c 511. R 625. 



Steller's Duck* 



732. Somateria fischeri (Brandt) Coues. B 599. c 512. R 626. 



Spectacled Eider. 



733. Somateria mollissima (L.) Boie. B . c . R 627. 



Eider Duck. 



734. Somateria mollissima dresseri (Sharpe) Coues. B 606. C 513. R 627a. 



American Eider Duck. 



735. Somateria v-nigra Gray. B 607. c 514. R 628. 



Black-throated Eider. 



736. Somateria spectabilis (L.) Boie. B 608. c 515. R 629. 



King Eider. 



737. CEdemia americana Sw. B 604. c 516. R 630. 



American Black Scoter. 



738. CEdemia fusca (L.) Flem. B eoi. c 517. R 631. 



Velvet Scoter; White- winged Scoter. 



739. CEdemia perspicillata (L.) Flem. B 602. c 518. R 633. 



Surf Duck. 



731. So-mat-g'-rl-a stlMSr-i. Gr. <rw/ta, genitive a-^aros, the body, and epiov, wool, down; 



with reference to the famous " eider-down " produced by species of this genus. To 

 G. W. Steller, the surgeon and naturalist of Behring's second voyage, 1741-42. 



732. S. fisch'-gr-i. To Gotth. Fischer von Waldheim, a Russian naturalist. 



733. S. mol-lis'-sl-ma. Lat. mollissima, superlative degree of mollis, soft; this a contraction 



for movilis, mobile, moveable, from moueo, I move. The reference is of course to the 

 downy plumage. 



See next species. Since the American bird has been distinguished from the Euro- 

 pean, the latter has been said to be also found in North America, on the west side of 

 Cumberland Gulf. See Ridg., Pr. Nat. Mus., iii, 1880, p. 222. This requires us to 

 restore the name S. mollissima, but it is No. 734 that equals No. 513 of the orig. ed. 



734. S. m. drgs-sSr-I. To Henry E. Dresser, of London, author of the "Birds of Europe," &c. 



This is the S. mollissima of writers on American birds and of the orig. ed. of the 

 Check List. See Sharpe, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1871, p. 51. See last species. 



735. S. v-nlg'-ra. This is a queer way of saying that the bird has a black v-shaped mark on 



the throat " digammated," indeed! 



736. S. spec-ta'-bi-lls. Lat. spectabilis, that may be seen, hence, worth seeing, a spectacle ; 



specto, spicio, specio, I look at ; whence a thousand derivatives. 



737. De-de'-ml-a am-Sr-I-ca'-na. Gr. o^5r//ta, Lat. oedema, a swelling, tumefaction; olSdw, I 



swell ; referring to the humpiness or gibbosity of the bill. 



738. O. fus'-ca. Lat. fuscus, fuscous, dark; not well applied to this black bird. 



739. O. per-splc-fl-la'-ta. Irregularly formed from perspido; equivalent to perspicibilis, con- 



tracted to perspicilis, and then given a participial termination, as if from a verb per- 

 spicillo; meaning perspicuous, that may be clearly seen, hence conspicuous, spectacular; 

 see Somateria, No. 736. 



