WHITE-WINGED SCOTER 197 



they will frequently dive to the bottom (always using their wings 

 as well as feet at such times in swimming under water) and retain 

 hold of the roek-weed with the bill until drowned. ... I have also 

 seen all three species [of Scoters] when wounded dive from the air, 

 entering the water without any splash" (Mackay, 18916, pp. 282- 

 283). 



Scoters may be readily decoyed, and were it not for their oily, 

 strongly flavored flesh, they might be considered desirable game. 

 But their unfitness for use as a table bird makes them of ordinary 

 interest only in so far as they afford a mark for the gunner. As the 

 American Scoter does not appear in any numbers on the California 

 coast, it is negligible here from an economic standpoint. 



White-winged Scoter 



Oidemia deglandi Bonaparte 



Other xames — White-winged Coot; Black Surf Duck; Velvet Duck; Klon- 

 dike Mallard; Oidemia fusca; Melanetta velvetina. 



Description — Adult male: Uniformly black, tinged witli brown on sides and 

 belly; wings black, speculum abruptly pure white; crescentie spot immediately 

 below and behind eye, pure white; iris "bright yellow"; sides of upper man- 

 dible feathered almost to nostrils; prominent knob at base of culmen, and 

 margins of both mandibles, black; sides of upper mandible red, shading to 

 orange on culmen and base; nail "flesh-colour"; lower mandible black; feet 

 "orange-red," webs "greyish -black" (Audubon, 1843, VI, p. 336). Total 

 length (both sexes) "19.75-23.00" inches (501-583 mm.) (Bidgway, 1900, p. 

 112). Males: folded wing 10.75-11.10 (273-282); bill from tip to limit of 

 feathers on culmen 1.54^1.66 (39.1-42.2); tarsus 1.96-2.05 (49.8-52.2) (five 

 specimens). Adult female: Head brownish black without any conspicuous 

 white spots; rest of plumage dusky brown, lighter on lower surface; speculum 

 pure white; bill dull black; iris "dark"; legs and feet "brownish red"; webs 

 "dusky" (Sanford, Bishop and Van Dyke, 1903, p. 178). Folded wing 10.40- 

 10.75 inches (264-273 mm.) ; bill from tip to limit of feathers on culmen 1.41- 

 1.58 (35.8-40.2); tarsus 1.78-1.81 (45.2-45.9) (three specimens); all from Cali- 

 fornia. Juvenile plumage: Dark sooty brown, becoming black on top of head 

 and back, and lightest on central part of lower surface due to narrow feather- 

 edgings of dull white there; iris brown; speculum white as in adults; legs and 

 feet (dried) dull black. Natal plumage: Black, chin white (Baird, Brewer and 

 Eidgway, 1884, II, p. 96). Note. — By wear, juveniles become ashy white on 

 lower surface of body and also locally on sides of head. At post-juvenal molt 

 males assume only a partially black plumage, some of the old, worn, pale- 

 colored, plumage persisting in irregular patches on lower surface of body. 

 The bill gradually acquires adult form during the first year. Year-old birds 

 in incomplete adult plumage are the ones most often found in California during 

 the summer season. 



Makes fob field identification — Large size, thick body, short stout head 

 and neck, black or black-appearing coloration, white patches on wings, and 

 absence of white on back of head. Sits very low when resting on water. 



