Miscellaneous. 73 



the Black, the Velvet, and this, the Surf Scoter ; but the last of these 

 is only a very rare visitor. They are dark or black plumaged ducks, 

 the females being brown ; and this species is easily distinguished from 

 the others by the rounded patch of white on its forehead, between and 

 in front of its eyes ; and the somewhat shield-shaped patch, square 

 above, and pointed posteriorly, on the nape and running down the 

 neck. The rest of the plumage is deep bluish black tinged with 

 brownish on the quills and the wedge-shaped tail. The appearance 

 of the bill is singular: prominent in the middle over the nostrils, which 

 are pervious (and to which point the feathers come down), then sloping 

 with a concave outline to the slightly rounded nail at its point ; 

 and it is also very prominent at the lateral parts of its base. Its colour 



f is of a reddish orange, paler at the sides, and becoming yellowish 

 towards the nail ; and there is a very strongly defined square-shaped 

 black patch on each of the two lateral protuberances, edged with the 

 reddish orange of the bill, except at its superior and anterior angle, 

 and in front, where it is succeeded by a triangularly-shaped spot of 

 bright bluish white, terminating at the nostril. The under mandible 

 is of a much paler reddish colour. The bill measured on the side is 

 nearly 2f inches in length hy \^ inch in height, and about the same 

 in breadth across the lateral protuberances at its base. The eyes are 

 placed high on the head, not far indeed from the top, about \\ inch 

 above and slightly behind the angle of the mouth. The iris was of 

 a beautiful white, reminding one almost of white china ware. The 

 tarsi are of a reddish orange colour in front and dusky behind, and the 

 toes are also reddish orange with dusky spots at the joints, the inter- 

 vening membranes being of a dusky black ; the claws are small and 

 black. The whole bird is about 21 inches in length ; and from the 

 carpal joint to the extremity of the first and second primaries which 

 ure the longest, it is 9f inches, the wing reaching only to a very little 

 beyond the base of the tail. Fleming in his ' British Animals ' 

 mentions that the Surf Scoter is said by Temminck to have occurred 

 in Orkney. And I shall quote a short passage from Sir W. Jardine's 

 interesting ' Ornithology of Great Britain,' part iv. p. 162 (Naturalist's 

 Library), which seems to give the best summary of its occurrence : 

 he says, — "The Surf Scoter is an extremely rare bird in Britain, and 

 even in Europe ; the coasts of North America (where it is plentiful) 

 being its real habitation. It has been stated by most of our modern 

 British ornithologists, that specimens of this bird occur now and then 

 in the vicinity of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but we are not 

 aware of any being lately procured there. In the * Birds of Europe,' 

 a specimen is stated to have been killed in the Firth of Forth, and 

 Mr. Yarrell records another instance of a recent specimen coming into 

 the possession of Mr. Bartlett of London : all these in this country 

 have occurred in winter. It is of nearly equal rarity on the continent, 

 and few notices of it occur either in any of the recent works devoted 

 to natural history, or in those books of tours which lately, under the 

 apology of sport, have recorded some interesting anecdotes on the 



! liabits of little-known species." So that this beautiful adult male is 

 to be considered apparently as the second instance of the bird's occur- 



