AMEEICAN BLACK SCOTEB. 537 



" Although the King Eider (Somateria speetabiUs, has been recorded as oconning at Lake 

 Erie, and as a ' rare winter visitant ' to Lalce Michigan, its presence near Buffalo, N. Y., 

 in snch nambers as the following communication indicates, seems worthy of record. 

 Mr. Charles Linden, of that city, in a letter dated November 26, 1879, writes : ' I send 

 you a fresh- shot specimen of what appears be Somateria apectalilis, young. * » » » 

 Several flocks of them have, for the first time, made their appearance in the Niagara; 

 they are very tame, allow approach to within a few yards, dive readily, and appear 

 again a long distance from where they dove. They are evidently not used to the lurk- 

 ing dangers of the gun, and have probably found their way up the St. Lawrence, up 

 Lake Ontario, and across to Lake Erie. There have been to my knowledge at least eigh- 

 teen of them shot. They are generally found in small flocks of three or four birds.' " 



Genus (EDEMIA. 



Bill without lateral and superior basal processes ; but much swollen or gibbous at base 

 (in adult males) ; then depressed, and broad. Nail very large, forming the tip. Nostrils 

 anterior to middle. ' 



Sub-genus (Edema. Bill scarcely encroached upon by the frontal feathers, shorter 

 than head, the gibbosity superior, circumscribed ; nostrils at its middle ; tail normally 

 sixteen-feathered. 



CEdemIa amekicana Sw. 



American Black Scoter. 



' (Edemia amerioana, Mkrriam, Trans. Conn. Acad,, iv, 1877, 127. 



(Hdemia americana, Swainson and Eichaedson, Fn. Bor. Am., ii, 1831, 450. 



Plumage of male entirely black ; bill black, the gibbosity orange. Female sooty-brown, 

 paler below, becoming grayish-white on the belly, there dusky-speckled, on the sides and 

 flanks dusky-waved ; throat and sides of head mostly continuous whitish ; bill all black ; 

 feet livid olivaceous, with black webs. Male, nearly 2 feet ; wing, about 10 inches ; 



SoMATEKiA MOLLissiMA (L.) Leach. 

 var (?). DRESSEEi Sharpe. 



EJider Dixch:. 

 Bill with long club-shaped frontal processes extendiisg in a line with the culmeu upon 

 the sides of the forehead, divided by a broad feathe; .jd interspace. Male in breeding 

 attire, white, creamy-tinted on breast and washed with green on the head ; under-parts 

 from the breast, lower back, rump, tail, quills, and large forked patch on the crown, 

 black. Female with the bill less developed, general plumage an extremely variable 

 shade of reddish-brown or oohrey-brown, speckled, mottled and barred with darker ; 

 male in certain stages resembling the female. Length, about 2 feet ; wing, 11-12 inches. 



Habitat, Atlantic and Arctic coasts. 



Mr. Nelson gives the Common American Eider as a not very rare winter visitor on 

 Lake Michigan, where it is more numerous in winter than the Eling Eider. Careful 

 observation will no doubt prove it to be an occasional winter visitor to Lake Erie. 



