BIRDS OF GUERNSEY. 165 



143. EIDER DUCK. Sonwteria mottissinui, 

 French, " Canard eider," " Morillon eider." The 

 Eider Duck occasionally straggles to the Channel 

 Islands in the autumn, but very seldom, and the 

 majority of those that do occur are in immature 

 plumage. I have one immature bird, killed in 

 Guernsey in the winter of 1876 ; and that is the 

 only Channel Island specimen that has come under 

 my notice, and I think almost the only one 

 Mr. Couch had had through his hands. 



The Eider Duck is included in Professor Ansted's 

 list, and marked as occurring in Guernsey. The 

 King Eider is also included in the list, but no letter 

 marking the distribution through the Islands is 

 given, and no information beyond the mere name, 

 so I should think in all probability this must have 

 been a mistake, especially as I can find no other 

 evidence whatever of its occurrence. There is no 

 specimen of either bird in the Museum. 



144. COMMON SCOTER. Oidemia nigra, Linnaeus. 

 French, "Macreuse," " Canard macreuse." The 

 Scoter is a common autumn and winter visitant to 

 all the Islands, generally making its appearance in 

 considerable flocks ; sometimes, however, the flocks 

 get broken up, and single birds may then be seen 

 scattered about in the more sheltered bays. Some 

 apparently remain till tolerably late in the spring 

 as Mr. MacCulloch wrote me word that a pair of 



