204 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



musical sound by the drake during the pairing 

 season. 



Even during the breeding season the Common 

 Scoter does not retire far from the sea. Its favourite 

 breeding grounds are by the lakes and rivers 

 amongst dwarf- willow and birch -scrub, and an 

 island is always preferred. The nest is a mere 

 hollow in the ground, into which is collected a little 

 dry herbage. This, however, is plentifully lined 

 with down before the female begins to sit. The 

 bird is a late breeder, the eggs not being laid much 

 before the middle of June. These are six to 

 nine in number, grayish-buff in colour, smooth in 

 texture, and with little gloss. Only one brood 

 is reared, and the female alone appears to take 

 the entire duty of caring for the ducklings. I 

 should here remark that the adult male Scoter 

 is uniform bright black, with the exception of an 

 orange-coloured stripe said to vary considerably in 

 extent along the central ridge of the upper 

 mandible. The female is nearly uniform dark- 

 brown. The Scoter is an inhabitant of Arctic 

 Europe and West Siberia, visiting more southern 

 latitudes in winter. 



VELVET SCOTER. 



Although this species, the Fuligula fusca of 

 ornithology, is a regular winter visitor to the seas 

 off the British coasts, it nowhere approaches in 

 numbers the preceding species. It may be readily 



