6i6 THE WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. 



In regions of plenty the Scoters lie off shore in great "rafts," which 

 sometimes blacken the water for leagues. They are not so wary as some, but 

 still they usually contrive to keep just out of range. It requires considerable 

 exertion on their part to rise from the water, and they evidently make use of 

 their feet at first, like Coots and Loons. As a flock melts away before one, 

 the air is filled with the sound of hoarsely whistling wings, and one feels, 

 if never before, the glamor of the "sounding seas." 



No. 305. 



WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. 



A. O. U. No. 165. Oidemia deglandi Bonap. 



Synonym. — White-wingbd Coot. 



Description. — Adult male: Speculum white; a white spot below and includ- 

 ing eye ; entire remaining plumage deep brownish black ; culmen gibbous at base, 

 but nearly covered by feathers which reach laterally almost to nostrils; loral 

 feathering usually, but not always, extending further forward than frontal feathers ; 

 bill black, varied by orange-red on lateral and terminal portions (but not on 

 knob or edges) . Black less intense in winter. Adult female and immature : 

 Plain dusky brown, a little lighter below ; and with two dull whitish spots on side 

 of head, on lore, and ear-coverts ; speculum white ; extension of loral feathers as in 

 adult male, but bill only slightly gibbous, and with less orange. Length 19.00-24.00 

 (482.6-609.6); wing 11.00 (279.4); tail 3.25 (82.6); biU along culmen 1.60 

 (40.6) ; anterior margin of loral feathering to tip of bill 1.55 (39.4) ; tarsus 2.00 

 (50.8). 



Recognition Marlts. — Mallard size; plumage black or dark brown (female) ; 

 white wing-patch (speculum) distinctive. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in Ohio. Nest, on the ground, under a bush, often 

 at a considerable distance from water, lined heavily with twigs, dried plants, and 

 moss, with a few feathers. Hggs, 6-10, pale buff or light greenish buff. Av. size, 

 2.68 X 1.83 (68.1 X 46.5). 



General Range. — Northern North America, breeding in Labrador and the 

 Fur Countries, less frequently in the northern tier of Western States; south in 

 winter to Chesapeake Bay, southern Illinois, San Quentin Bay, Lower California. 



Range in Ohio. — Casual on Lake Erie in winter. Has been taken on the 

 Reservoirs. 



Remark. — The White-winged Scoter was formerly described as Oidemia 

 fusca var. velvetina, and called the American Velvet Scoter. It differs from 

 the European bird (0. fusca) chiefly in the further encroachment of the loral 

 feathering upon the bill. The character is very slight and quite variable, but 

 within limits which are apparently constant. 



ALTHO the White-winged Coot is occasionally seen upon inland waters, 

 and is known to breed in the interior, notably in North Dakota and westward. 



