OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 439 



doubt that to a certain extent this is the case. Great flocks of 

 this bird almost blacken the sea, and look like mud-banks in the 

 distance, congregating in certain favoured haunts during winter, 

 often in company with other Ducks, but as its flesh is fishy and 

 unpalatable it is not much sought after by American sportsmen, 

 by whom it is known in some districts as "Surf Coot," "Spectacled 

 Coot," or "Skunk-headed Coot." 



Nidification. — The favourite breeding grounds of the Surf 

 Scoter are the lake-studded northern tundras, and the banks of 

 the winding rivers that join them into a more or less swampy 

 paradise for aquatic birds. It is a late breeder, like its allies, 

 laying towards the end of June or early in July. The nest is 

 made near the water, in many cases amongst scrub and coarse 

 vegetation ; but MacFarlane found one concealed under the 

 drooping lower branches of a stunted pine-tree, and others have 

 been observed in similar situations. It is merely a hollow in the 

 ground, lined with any vegetable refuse that may chance to be 

 near, and with an abundance of down from the body of the 

 female. The eggs are from five to eight in number, pale grayish 

 buff in colour, smooth, and with little gloss. They measure on 

 an average 2 "3 inches in length by i"65 inch in breadth. Down 

 tufts, so far as I am aware, still undescribed. Only one brood is 

 reared in the year. 



Diagnostic Characters. — (Nuptial plumage), FuHgula, with 

 the entire plumage glossy black, except a broad patch of white 

 on the forehead and another on the nape (adult male) ; with the 

 axillaries brown, with the under tail coverts dark brown, with the 

 frontal feathers extending about an inch beyond those at the side 

 of the bill, and with the white nape patch indistinctly defined 

 (adult female). Length, 2 1 inches. 



