62 Birds of Colorado 
on the Great Lakes. In Colorado this bird is only an accidental 
straggler. One was taken by W. G. Smith at Loveland, and was 
recognised by Prof. Wm. Osburn (Cooke). 
Genus OIDEMIA. 
Bill variously swollen, at the base (except in 2 O. americana) and 
brightly coloured ; nostrils about the middle of the bill or beyond ; 
plumage black or dusky brown with white patches. 
Confined to the, Northern Hemisphere ; three species in the United 
States. 
Key oF THE SPECIES. 
A. Feathering of the head not reaching near the nostrils ; no white 
patches. O. americana, p. 62. 
B. Feathering of head reaching forward to a level with the nostrils. 
a. A white patch on the wing. O. deglandi, p. 62. 
b. No patch on the wing, but two on the forehead and nape 
respectively. O. perspicillata, p. 63. 
American Scoter. Oidemia americana. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 163—Colorado Records—Ridgway 79, p. 234; 
Morrison 89, p. 165; Cooke 97, p. 57; Felger 09, p. 283. 
Description.—Male—Black throughout, a little less glossy below, 
and greyish on the inner web of the primaries ; iris brown, line of the 
_ base of the bill forming a straight line with the frontel feathers, nostrils 
“in the middle of the bill, bill itself black, basal knob yellow; feet 
blackish. Length about 20; wing 9-0; tail 3:5 ; culmen 1-6 ; tarsus 1-7. 
The female is smaller—wing 8-0—and sooty brown above, paler 
below ; the bill is black throughout and has no basal knob. 
Distribution.—Breeding in northern Labrador and on the Alaskan 
and north-east Siberian coasts; wintering on the coasts south to New 
Jersey and southern California, and on the Great Lakes. 
An accidental straggler to Colorado, seldom recorded. There was 
an adult male in Mrs. Maxwell’s collection, presumably taken in 
Colorado (Ridgway); Breninger found a dead bird of this species at 
Fort Collins (Cooke). Hersey informs me it has been taken at 
Barr, and Felger notes one from Aurora Lake, in the neighbourhood 
of Denver, October 2nd, 1901. 
White-winged Scoter. Oidemia deglandi. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 165—Colorado Records—Cooke 94, p. 183; 
97, pp. 57, 195 ; 06, p. 61 ; H. G. Smith 96, p. 48 ; 08, p. 184 ; Henderson 
03, p. 107; 07, p. 198; 09, p. 226; Bergtold 04, p. 78. 
