and the margin of the bill black, the rest of the bill bright orange-yellow ; legs red, the webs of the 

 feet darker; iris brown. Total length about 21 inches, gape 2 - 6, wing 10'7, tail 3'5, tarsus 1*8. 



Adult Female (Archangel) . Head and neck blackish brown ; a large dull white patch in front of the eye, 

 and another, rather smaller, behind the eye; upper parts blackish brown, the feathers with light 

 margins; underparts lighter brown marked with dull white; wings like the male, but browner in 

 colour; bill blackish plumbeous, less swollen than in the male; iris brownish; legs dull reddish. 



Young Male (Archangel) . Resembles the female, but has the light markings on the side of the head smaller 

 and less distinct; legs brownish yellow. 



Young in down (near Nykoping, 26th July) . Crown, nape, hind neck, and sides of the head to a line from 

 the base of the lower mandible deep brown ; a small white spot below the eye ; upper parts uniform 

 dark brown with an olivaceous tinge; a small white patch of down on the wings; underparts white, 

 the upper breast crossed by a dull-brown band. 



The range of the present species is as nearly as possible the same as that of the common Scoter ; 

 for it inhabits the northern portions of Europe and Asia during the breeding-season, migrating 

 southward during the winter. In North America it is replaced by a very closely allied form, 

 which is only just specifically separable. In Great Britain it is much rarer than the common 

 Scoter, and is almost only met with during winter on the coasts. Yarrell states that it has been 

 obtained in Cornwall, Devonshire, Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Suffolk, and Norfolk. It is found 

 but rarely in Dorsetshire, and has, Mr. Mansel-Pleydell says, been shot on the Stour, in Poole 

 Harbour, and in Portland Roads. Mr. Cecil Smith informs me that, though he has frequently 

 met with it on the South-Devon coast, but not in such numbers as the common Scoter, he never 

 observed it in Somersetshire. There is, however, a female in the Salisbury Museum labelled 

 " Somerset." It occurs off our east coast; but Mr. Cordeaux, who says that he met with it at 

 sea off Flamborough Head in the autumn, adds that it is much less common than (Edemia nigra, 

 keeping far out at sea, even in the roughest weather, and is very rarely found in the Humber. 

 Hancock speaks of it as being a winter visitant to the coasts of Northumberland and Durham, 

 but not of common occurrence ; and, referring to its occurrence in Scotland, Mr. Robert Gray 

 writes (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 381) as follows : — " I am more familiar with this conspicuous bird 

 as an east-coast species than as a visitor to the west. ' Black Ducks,' which are so very abundant 

 in the Firth of Forth, are almost never seen on the Firth of Clyde ; and although the Velvet 

 Scoter is said to breed on the Faroes and Iceland, the flocks reaching our western shores are very 

 much smaller than those visiting the estuaries of Aberdeen, Fifeshire, and East Lothian. Several 

 small flocks were seen by Mr. Elwes on Loch Indaal, in Islay, in November 1867; and Mr. Graham 

 has sent me word that he has seen the species at Ardrishaig. A very fine male, which I had an 

 opportunity of seeing, was also shot on Gareloch in the first week of January 1869." Dr. Saxby 

 says that it is merely an occasional winter visitant to Shetland, though it is common in Orkney, 

 visiting there after southerly gales. Dr. Saxby adds that he has seldom seen it, and never 

 obtained more than one specimen. It has been surmised by several ornithologists that this bird 

 breeds in Scotland ; but no authentic instance of its nest having been found appears to have been 

 published. The late Mr. Gordon Cumming showed Captain Elwes eggs of this species which he 



