AMERICAN SCOTER DUCK. 345 



the tip rounded, the unguis very broadly elliptical. Nostrils medial, ellip- 

 tical, pervious, near the ridge. 



Head large, oblong, compressed, rounded above. Eyes of moderate size. 

 Neck short and thick. Body large and much depressed. Feet very short, 

 placed rather far behind; tarsus very short, much compressed, having ante- 

 riorly in its whole length a series of small scutella and above the outer toe 

 a partial series, the rest covered with reticular angular scales. Hind toe 

 small, with a free membrane beneath; anterior toes nearly double the length 

 of the tarsus, connected by reticulated membranes having a sinus on their 

 free margins, the inner with a lobed marginal membrane, the outer with a 

 thick margin, the third and fourth about equal and longest. Claws small, 

 that of the first toe very small and curved, of the middle toe largest, with a 

 dilated inner edge, of the rest slender, all rather obtuse. 



Plumage soft, dense, blended, slightly glossed. Feathers on the head and 

 neck of a velvety texture, being very small, oblong, with the terminal fila- 

 ments disunited. Wings rather short, narrow, and pointed; primary quills 

 curved, strong, tapering, pointed, the first with the inner web cut out 

 towards the tip, leaving the feather less than a quarter of an inch in breadth 

 at the distance of an inch and a half from its extremity; the second longest, 

 exceeding the first by half an inch, and the third by one-twelfth, the rest 

 rapidly graduated; secondaries broad and rounded, the inner elongated and 

 tapering. Tail very short, graduated, acuminate, of sixteen pointed feathers. 



The bulging part of the upper mandible is bright orange, paler above, that 

 colour extending to a little before the nostrils; the rest of the upper man- 

 dible, including its basal margin to the breadth of from three to two twelfths 

 of an inch, black, as is the lower mandible. Iris brown. Feet brownish- 

 black. The general colour of the plumage is black, on the lower parts 

 tinged with brown; the inner webs of the quills brownish-grey. 



Length to end of tail 19 inches, to end of wings 17, to end of claws 20; 

 extent of wings 33^; bill along the ridge 1{^; wing from flexure 9^; tail 4; 

 bare part of tibia j^ tarsus l^'i hind toe -||, its claw ff; second toe 2 T 2 ^, its 

 claw T 4 2-; third toe 2 T 9 2, its claw -ff; fourth toe 2}|, its claw ff. Weight 2 

 lbs. 9 oz. 



Adult Female. 



The female, which is a little smaller than the male, has scarcely any pro- 

 tuberance at the base of the bill, which is entirely brownish-black. The 

 upper parts are of a light sooty-brown colour, the lower light brownish- 

 grey. 



Length to end of tail 17 inches; extent of wings 29f. 



This species differs very little from the European Scoter, being nearly of 

 the same size, proportions, and colours. The male differs from that of the 



Vol. VI. 48 



