THE SCOTERS. 



ALLAN BROOKS. 



Scoters, those large black ducks more 

 generally known as sea coots in America, 

 are found throughout the Northern hemi- 

 sphere. Except the eiders, they are the 

 most maritime of ducks, being most abun- 

 dant on the sea coasts, and are frequently 

 seen far out of sight of land. They also 

 occur more or less commonly on the larger 

 lakes, and sometimes on smaller bodies of 

 water, especially where these are of a sal- 

 ine nature. Even when killed on fresh 

 water the flesh of scoters is rank and fishy, 



move noiselessly, but on alighting again 

 they make a few more whistling strokes and 

 hold their wings pointed high up over the 

 back until their impetus is exhausted. 



In diving, scoters open their wings slight- 

 ly and plunge abruptly forward; but I do 

 not think, from my own observations, that 

 they use the^ wings when under water, pro- 

 pelling themselves solely with their feet — 

 huge webbed paddles, larger than those of 

 any other duck. 



There are 6 species of scoters known to 





s#?«5:'.: 



5r 



WHITE WINGED SCOTER, OIDEMIA DEGLANDI. 



but numbers are eaten, when better ducks 

 are not available, by masking their strong 

 flavor with various condiments. 



Scoters are among the hardest of all 

 waterfowl to kill. Not only are they most 

 expert divers, but the quantity of shot they 

 can carry is astonishing. They rise with 

 difficulty, throwing great spouts of water 

 up with each stroke of their powerful feet, 

 which they use to help them clear the sur- 

 face. Once clear their feet are spread wide 

 apart until they are well on the wing. When 

 rising they make a deep, whistling noise 

 with their wings, especially noticeable in the 

 water.. When in full flight their wings 



science. Of these, 3 are common to Amer- 

 ica : the white winged, the surf and the 

 American. The white winged scoter, Oide- 

 mia deglandi, more commonly called white 

 winged coot, is found from Atlantic to Pa- 

 cific. In Europe and Northern Asia it is 

 replaced by the velvet scoter, O. fusca, and 

 in Northeast Asia by the Kamchatkan sco- 

 ter, 0. stegneri, both of which are closely 

 allied species, with the same general char- 

 acter. 



The white winged scoter is the most num- 

 erous and generally distributed of the genus 

 in America, and is the species most fre- 

 quently found on inland waters. From the 



13 



