52 COMMON SCOTEE. 



In Oxfordshire these birds are very frequently seen in the 

 winter; flocks have also occurred in Cambridgeshire. In 

 Suffolk a specimen occurred at Beccles, in February, 1848; 

 and another was met with on the coast. They frequent 

 Windermere, Westmoreland, every year. Fourteen were seen, 

 and two of them shot the first week in July, 1848. In 

 Norfolk they are common in some winters about Yarmouth, 

 and occasionally occur inland. The young bird has been 

 noticed by the Messrs. Paget, and others, in June and July. 

 In Surrey one was shot on the canal at Farnham, on the 

 2nd. of November, 1844. In Wiltshire, one on the ornamental 

 water at Stourhead, the seat of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 

 Bart., a distance of twenty miles from the sea. 



In Orkney the Scoter is not very common as a winter 

 visitant. One was shot in Sanday, in the winter of 184S-9, 

 by W. Strang, Esq. 



In Ireland it occasionally occurs. So also in South Wales, 

 from whence Colonel Montagu received some specimens. 



Meyer says, 'The adult males leave the breeding places 

 about the end of July; the young birds migrate in August, 

 and the greater numbers of intermediate ages and the females 

 follow soon after; thus the larger flights arrive in September 

 and October. By the latter end of March, and the beginning 

 of April, the northern migration takes place.' On these 

 occasions they fly in a slanting line. 



They assemble at times in immense flocks, and cover the 

 surface of the sea to a great extent. Considerable numbers 

 are taken now and then in the nets of fishermen. They are 

 difficult to be approached. 



This species dives in an admirable manner, and is able to 

 keep under water for a more than ordinary length of time. 

 It resorts to this mode of escape, if pursued, in preference 

 to taking wing. 



'Its flight is tolerably quick, sometimes very high in the 

 air, and always accompanied with considerable noise, produced 

 by the beatings of its wings. On alighting it skims the 

 surface for some distance.' It may more frequently be seen 

 flying at a low elevation above the surface of the water, and 

 straight forward, from one spot to another. It walks in a 

 clumsy manner, and in a rather upright position, so as to 

 preserve the 'balance of power.' 



The food of these birds consists of Crustacea, inollusca, 

 mussels' and other smaller shell-fish, and sea insects. 



