KEY TO THE WATER BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 233 
It ranges throughout the Northern Hemisphere; in North America south 
to the Potomac and the Ohio; it breeds far northward. (A.0.U.) 
The eggs are described as being pale bluish and usually from six to 
twelve in number. 
This is one of our most common ducks on the New England coast in fall 
and winter. It ranges south as far as Florida, but is not common, although 
I have occasionally taken specimens on the Banana River. In the winter 
of 1894-5 there were a number of these birds at Lake Worth. 
Genus OIDEMIA FLeEminc. 
Surncenus OJDEMIA., 
OIDEMIA AMERICANA Sw. & Rich, 
American Scoter. Black Coot. 
(Female.) 
(Male.) 
<ldult male: General plumage entirely black; bill black, the upper mandible being 
yellowish orange at the base. Feathers on the bill more than one half an inch from the 
nostril; no white on the wing. 
Adult female: Brownish or sooty brown; paler on the under parts, becoming grayish white 
on the belly; sides of the head whitish. The female is smaller than the male. 
Length, 19; Wing, 9.10; Tarsus, 1.65; Bill, 1.80. 
Species breeds from Labrador northward; the eggs being described as 
pale brown or dull whitish brown and from six to ten in number. It ranges 
