ANATHXE. 501 



coast of Devon were in this state of moult, and had 

 lost so many of their quill- feathers that they could 

 not fly, and might, by hard work and perseverance, 

 have been rowed down and taken alive : many, how- 

 ever, in the flock could fly perfectly every one of 

 the black males : probably all those that could not 

 were birds of the year. It is certainly, as Montagu 

 observes, strange that these birds and some other 

 Ducks should moult so many quill-feathers as to be 

 incapable of flight, and what appears to me to in- 

 crease this strangeness is the peculiar time at which 

 they are found in this state, immediately on their 

 arrival on our coast, and it would certainly appear 

 probable that very many of them must have per- 

 formed the whole or part of their migratory journey 

 by water without much help from their wings, as 

 I found them in this state on the South Devon coast 

 in October and November, which is about the time 

 of their first arrival. 



The Scoter is a very expert diver, and will remain 

 under water for a long time. A wounded bird often 

 gives a hard chase, and if allowed to get to windward 

 of the boat will frequently escape, especially if the 

 water is a little rough, so as to increase the difficulty 

 of seeing it. 



The food of the Scoter, which consists mostly of 

 shell-fish, such as mussels, and other marine animals 

 and insects, is mostly obtained by diving: this food 

 causes the flesh to be so rank and fishy that in Roman 



