(EDEMIA. 185 



sirall numbers in the more northern counties of Scotland ; 

 it is said to have nested in Tiree in 1897 and of recent years 

 in a lough in Ireland. In winter it is very plentiful on 

 our coasts, especially the east coast of Great Britain, but it is 

 less numerous in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, the 

 Hebrides, and on the west coast. It is also abundant round 

 the north of Ireland, but scarce on the southern and western 

 shores. A number of immature birds remain about our 

 coasts throughout the summer. 



General Distribution. — The Common Scoter breeds in 

 Iceland, Spitsbergen (once recorded in 1905), and throughout 

 north Europe and Asia as far east as the Taimyr Peninsula, 

 from about 74° N. latitude down to the Arctic Circle. In 

 winter it is very common on the Atlantic shores of Europe, 

 wanders to the Azores and the coast of north-west Afrioa, 

 and visits the Mediterranean, Caspian sea, and coast of 

 Palestine. In North America it is represented by the 

 closely allied CE. americana. 



(Edemia fusca. Velvet-Scoteb. 



Anas fusca Linnceus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 123 : Sweden. 



CEdemia fusca {Linn.) ; JB. O. TJ. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 135 ; 

 Salvadori, Oat. Birds B. M. xxvii. 1895, p. 406 ; Saunders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 467. 



J?'«sca=dark, dusky. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A regular Winter 

 Visitor, but not very numerous and most often met with off 

 the east and south coasts of Great Britain. It is common in 

 the Oi'kney Islands, and small flocks of non-breeding male 

 birds may be seen there and on the east coast of Scotland 

 throughout the summer. In the Shetlands and Outer 

 Hebrides it is uncommon, while in Ireland it is not 

 infrequently met with off" the northern and eastern coast.<, 

 but is almost unknown on the west. 



General Distribution. — The Velvet - Scoter breeds in 

 northern Europe and Asia, at least as far east as the Yenesei 



