AMEKICAN SCOTER. 91 



Hab. — Coasts and larger lakes of northern North America. Breeds in Lab- 

 rador and the northern interior. South in winter to New Jersey, the Great 

 Lakes and California. 



Nest, in a hollow in the ground near the water. It is lined with coarse- 

 grass, feathers and down. 



Eggs, six to eight, pale brownish-buflF. 



This is one of the sea ducks whose home is in the north, and its 

 line of migration being mostly along the sea coast, its visits to the 

 inland waters are only accidental. The specimen in my collection 

 was obtained at the west end of Lake Ontario, where the species is 

 often seen in the fall, in company with others of its class. 



Being undesirable either for use or ornament, ^t is allowed to- 

 spend the time of its visit here in peace. 



Mr. White reports it as a regular visitor at Ottawa, where it 

 appears singly, or in small numbers, in the fall. 



Dr. Bergtold also mentions its being found in Lake Erie near 

 Buffalo. 



Mr. E. W. Nelson, speaking of these birds in Alaska, where they 

 breed in great numbers, says : 



" At St. Michael's these ducks are never seen in spring until 

 the ice begins to break off shore and the marshes are dotted with pools 

 of open water. May 16th is the earliest date of arrival I recorded. 

 Toward the end of this month they leave the leads in the ice and are 

 found in abundance among the salt and fresh water ponds in the 

 great marshes, from the Yukon mouth north and south. The mating 

 is quickly accomplished, and a nesting site chosen on the border of 

 some pond. The spot is artfully hidden in the standing grass, and 

 the eggs, if left by the parent, are carefully covered with grass and 

 moss. As the set of eggs is completed, the male graduallj' loses 

 interest in the female, and soon deserts her to join great flocks of 

 his kind along the sea shore, usually keeping in the vicinity of a bay, 

 inlet, or the mouth of some large stream. These flocks are formed 

 early in June and continue to grow larger until the fall migration 

 occurs. The numbers gradually decrease until the 10th to the 1.5th 

 of October, when all have gone south. Until the young are about 

 half grown, the female usually keeps them in some large pond near the 

 nesting place, but as August passes they gradually work their way to 

 the coast, and are found about the shores and inner bays until able to 

 fly. They do not at any time ascend rivers, preferring to keep near 

 the sea shore." 



