THE SCOTERS. 45 



In winter it extends on the west along the shores of the Atlan- 

 tic, reaching to the Azores and for some little distance into the 

 Mediterranean, occurring very rarely on the coasts of Provence 

 and Italy. In the Eastern Mediterranean, however, it has been 

 observed off the coast of Palestine, but the birds which winter 

 here probably form part of the migration which populates the 

 Caspian Sea in winter. In America our Common Scoter is 

 replaced by the American Scoter (CE. americana), which is easily 

 distinguished by having the basal half of the upper mandible, 

 including the knob, of a light yellow, with a scarlet-vermilion 

 tinge on the sides. . 



Habits. Although sometimes occurring inland, the Scoter is 

 essentially a marine Duck, and it is seen in immense flocks in 

 winter off our eastern coasts, as well as in the north of Ireland, 

 keeping at a safe distance out to sea, unless driven into the 

 bays by stress of weather. Thousands may often be seen on 

 a crossing to Holland or Belgium, off the mouths of the Maas 

 or the Scheldt. The Scoter is a very powerful swimmer and 

 diver, and I remember an expedition which I made in Novem- 

 ber, 1893, with my friends F. J. Jackson and Frank Stone, after 

 the Scoters in Holkham Bay in Norfolk. There were several 

 boats engaged in sailing round the flocks, while we had decoys 

 out in every direction, whose wooden heads bobbed up and 

 down in the water with a most lifelike motion, but the result 

 of the bag was very small. Although we managed to break up 

 the flocks somewhat, the birds became very wild, and swam 

 and dived out to sea quicker than the boats could sail. 



Mr. Seebohm believes that numbers of the Scoters which go 

 north in summer do not breed, as he found large flocks fre- 

 quenting the mouth of the Petchora, on the banks of which 

 river other individuals were busily engaged wiih the duties of 

 incubation. He writes : " In the valley of the Petchora flocks 

 of Black Scoters were seen flying north down the river long 

 after other Ducks had eggs. In the middle of July we were 

 lying at anchor in the lagoon of the river, waiting for the dis- 

 appearance of the fog which had come down from the arctic 

 ice and concealed the Golievsky Islands which divide the 

 lagoon from the ocean. The sun was shining brilliantly over- 

 head, and when the fog lifted the island was revealed close to 



