OF THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 421 



Allied forms. — (Edemia americana, an inhabitant in summer of Kamts- 

 chatka, the Kurile Islands and Arctic America eastwards to Hudson Bay, and in 

 winter of Japan, the Pacific coast of America to Southern California, the Great 

 Lakes, and the Atlantic coast as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. The American 

 representative of the Common Scoter. It may be distinguished from the Common 

 Scoter by having the tubercle at the base of the bill orange-yellow instead of 

 black. This form should be looked out for on the British coasts, especially 

 in autumn. 



Habits. — The Common Scoter is one of the best known, and one of the 

 most common Ducks to be found on and off the British coasts during winter. 

 In some parts its vast flocks literally blacken the water, and may be observed far 

 away from land during moderately calm weather. No Duck is more gregarious 

 or more exclusively marine in its habits. The great autumn migration of this 

 species begins in September and lasts through October in our Islands, but many 

 old birds are said to arrive in the Baltic during August. The return flight 

 commences in April and lasts well into May. The line of migration is taken 

 across country as well as along the coast, and though this Duck certainly 

 migrates in flocks, these appear to break up into pairs as soon as the breedmg 

 grounds are reached. This, however, only applies to adults, for the immature 

 birds do not appear to breed during their first spring, but to continue all the 

 summer in the vast flocks they journeyed in from the south. These keep for 

 the most part to the sea, hanging about the Arctic islands and the deltas of the 

 great northern rivers. An immense flock, estimated at ten thousand strong, 

 was observed by Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown in the middle of July, 

 circling over the Golievsky Islands in the delta of the Petchora. Flocks of 

 non-breeding Scoters also frequent our coasts all the summer as previously 

 remarked. The Scoter is rather a late bird of passage in spring, and was 

 not observed in the valley of the Petchora until the 1st of June. This Duck is 

 just as proficient a diver as its congeners, and swims with equal power ; on the 

 land it is rather clumsy, waddling with an awkward gait, but in the air it is 

 more at home, and flies with great speed. The note of this Scoter is a harsh 

 kurr, but in the pairing season the drake is said to modulate it into a more 

 musical cry, syllabled by Paber as an oft-repeated tu, that of the female at this 

 season, according to the same authority, being a grating re-re-re. The food of 

 this species consists of moUusks, crustaceans, and insects, and in summer the 

 leaves, roots, and buds of weeds and aquatic plants. Its flesh is fishy in flavour 

 and unpalatable. 



Nidification. — The Common Scoter is a late breeder, even in the com- 

 paratively temperate climate of Iceland, not beginning to lay before the middle 

 of June, and in Arctic Eussia not until the end of that month or early in July. 



