ANATID^. 243 



miles from the mouth of that river. Specimens of the Common Scoter 

 have also been obtained occasionally between Earnstaple and Instow. 



The Common Scoter nests in the extreme north of Scotland in small 

 numbers, but the summer station of the species is more generally sought 

 in the Xorth of Europe, in the northern parts of Norwaj-, Finland, &e. 

 We consider that it is extremely improbable that it has ever nested in 

 South Devon. 



Velvet Scoter. CEdemia fusca (Linn.). 



[Velvet Duck.] 



A casual veinter visitor, of rare occurrence. 



Being exclusively a sea Duck the Velvet Scoter seldom approaches the 

 coast. Pohvhele, in his ' History of Devon,' states that the " Great Black 

 Duck,"' as he called it, had been found in Devon, and Dr. E. Moore 

 mentions a female which was in Mr. Drew's collection (Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 1837, p. 360). An adult male and two females were shot on Torbay at 

 the beginning of November 1869, and some were seen there in January 

 1870 (A. von H., Zool. 1S70, pp. 1983, 2059). Perhaps the two females 

 in the collection of the late Mr. Cecil Smith from Torbay were obtained 

 at that time. An immature specimen in the Torquay Museum was killed 

 on Torbay, and one in the A. M. M. was probably killed there also. One 

 was shot in Plymouth Sound in January 1879 (J. G., Zool. 1879, p. 206). 

 A female shot at the mouth of the Kingsbridge estuary is in Mr. Henry 

 Xicholls's collection. One was shot in the estuary of the Exe, near 

 Lympstone (W. Taylor, Zool. 1883, p. 426), 



To be easily distinguished from the Common Scoter in all stages of its 

 plumage by the white bar on the wings, the Velvet Scoter is a much rarer 

 species, apparently limiting itself in the autumn and winter chiefly to the 

 north-eastern shores of the kingdom, ilany years ago we saw a vast flock 

 of Velvet Ducks off Deal, pretty close inshore, in rough weather, at the 

 end of December *, and there can be little doubt that flocks appear annually 

 in the English Channel, in general keeping a considerable distance from 

 the sliore. In North Devon it is extremely rare. The bird-stuft'cr at 

 Barnstaple informs us that he has had an occasional example of the Velvet 

 Scoter sent to him, and Mr. Cecil Smith saw one in his shop which had 

 been shot in Barnstaple Bay in the year 1882 (Zool. 1885, p. 4) ; but 

 wc ourselves have never seen an e.\aiiiple from Nortli Devon, nor can we 

 remember one ever having been obtained on the Nortli Somerset coast 

 among the wild-fowl at Weston-super-Mare. The onlj' Somerset example 

 we ever heard of is one said to be in tlio museum at Salisbury, a t'omalo, 

 labelled " Somerset" (Dresser, 'Birds of Europe,' vi. p. 658). jjke the 

 Common Scoter, this species arrives very early from the nortli, as 



* Wp were very anxious to go out ;ni(l sjioot a few, hut llicri' was at I lint time ii 

 preat (li-i-t of went licr -bound stiiips in tlie Downs, and \\u' boatinun, liaviiif^ pli-nty to 

 do, asked a proliibitive price wlicn we tried to t-ngajjc a boat for tix! puriioso. 



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