The Velvet-Scoter. 1^5 



warmth, in the lovely flower-bedecked tundra, with its network of bright little 

 lakelets and sparkling streams, a veritable paradise for wild birds of all sorts, from 

 the Grey Goose to the far-travelled Blue-throat. 



The flesh of the Scoter is considered worthless for the table, so that' it is not 

 a common object of pursuit by legitimate wild- fowl shooters. Some numbers are, 

 however, destroyed in their winter quarters for " Sport," by a class who seem 

 never satisfied unless killing something. 



The colour of the adult male is intense glossy black, with a greenish tinge ; 

 there is a conspicuous protuberance at the base of the bill; a patch of orange in 

 centre of upper mandible, including nostrils ; irides hazel brown ; legs and feet 

 dusky black. The trachea in the male is without the peculiar dilatations found 

 in the Surf and Velvet-Scoters, and only differ from that of the female in having 

 the bronchi larger. The weight of an adult male is 2-lbs. lo-oz. to 2-lbs. 14-oz. 

 The adult female is brown, paler on cheeks and sides of neck. 



The American Scoter, CEdemia americana, is said to differ from CE. nigra, in 

 having the bill broader, the gibbosity less elevated, wider, and the orange patch 

 extends from the frontal feathers to the nostrils. Macgillivray, however, after 

 examining several specimens, was unable to discover any essential difference 

 between the two. 



Family— ANA TID^. 



Velvet-Scoter. 



CEdemia fusca, LiNN. 



THIS species, although occasionally met with on the east coast of England, 

 can scarcely be regarded as a common Duck. The fact, too, that they 

 keep far out at sea even in the roughest weather, and are seldom seen near land, 

 causes it to be considered a rarer bird than it really is. 



Vol. IV. 2 H 



