COMMON SCOTER 145 



in nets, spread over 'mussel-beds.' The Ducks dive for 

 shell-fish, and, becoming entangled in the meshes of the 

 nets, are drowned. 



Voice. The voice of the male in the nesting-season 

 resembles the sound tu-tu-tu-tu, the female answering 

 re-re-re-re (Saunders) . 



Flight. The flight is fast, but not buoyant. 



Nest. The Scoter builds on the ground, arnid coarse 

 herbage, such as heather, and usually in the vicinity of 

 fresh water : an island in a lake is a favourite, situation. 

 The nest is composed chiefly of dry grass and is lined with 

 grey down. 



The eggs, six to nine in number, are creamy-white in 

 colour. Incubation begins in June. 



With the exception of a small number of birds which 

 remain to breed in Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, and 

 Inverness-shire, as well as in Tiree (where this Duck 

 bred in 1897), we had no further evidence that it nested 

 elsewhere in the British Isles until 1904, when in June and 

 July of that year Major Herbert Trevelyan observed a pair 

 of Scoters on one of the larger loughs in Ireland. On 

 June 13th, 1905, the same observer found a female Scoter 

 on her nest, under a small bush on an island. The nest 

 contained eight eggs. On July 1st the female bird, and a 

 brood of five young, were observed swimming on the lough. 

 The nest, eggs, and young, were identified beyond a doubt 

 by Dr. Bowdler Sharpe and Mr. Heatley Noble ('Field,' 

 July 15th, 1904; also Ussher, 'Irish Naturalist,' 1905, 

 p. 199). 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, the Scoter breeds in 

 Northern Europe and Western Siberia, migrating in winter 

 over the seas of the European Continent, travelling as far 

 as the coast of North Africa, and extending along the 

 Mediterranean to the coast of Palestine. Limited numbers 

 appear on the large inland waters of Europe. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Entire plumage, glossy- 

 black, the breast and abdomen being duller than the back 

 and wings. 



Adult male, post-nuptial or eclipse. It is generally 

 supposed that the adult male retains the black plumage 

 throughout the summer, though some approach to the 



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