

•Sililiisf- 



AMERICAN SCOTER, OIDEMIA AMERICANA. 



white wing bar being sufficient to distin- 

 guish her from other female scoters of 

 America. 



In the old world the American scoter is 

 replaced by a closely allied species, Oidemia 

 nigra. 



The American scoter is by far the most 

 maritime of the 3 species found on this con- 

 tinent, and I have never seen it inland, 

 though it occurs on the great lakes. It 

 loves to frequent the wild, open shores, sel- 

 dom venturing into the land-locked harbors 

 where the other species swarm ; in this re- 

 spect resembling the harlequin duck, with 

 which it often associates. 



Like the harlequin, small flocks of Amer- 

 ican scoters, composed of half a dozen males 

 and a female or 2, are constantly on the 

 wing in fine, calm weather. A female leads, 

 the males bunched in behind her, all utter- 

 ing their plaintive call. After ascending 

 some 50 feet from the water they swing 

 around and alight a quarter of a mile away, 

 when another flock will rise and go through 

 the same performance. The cry is a sweet 

 and mournful whistle, pitched in a low key. 

 Once heard it will always conjure up vis- 

 ions of the opal tinted, glassy reaches of the 

 Pacific sounds, with their horizon of violet 

 peaks in jagged outline against the saffron 

 sky, the water studded with floating sea 

 fowl and the air resonant with the mourn- 

 ful cadence of the scoter's cries. The males 

 also have another note, a hoarse, guttural 

 chuckle, exactly like that of a small Eastern 

 frog, When uttering it, the scoters shoot 



flat along the water, just as the frogs do. 

 The American scoters rise with much less 

 exertion than other scoters, and when on 

 the wing the under side of the primaries 

 looks conspicuously light colored. The iris 

 is brown in both sexes. The bill in the male 

 is black with an orange yellow knob at the 

 base ; in the female, blackish with a trace 

 of yellow toward base. The feet are brown- 

 ish olive in both male and female. 



AMATEUR PHOTO EV J- B- PARKER- 

 FEEDING THE BABY. 



Winner of 41st Prize in Recreation's 8th An- 

 nual Photo Competition. 



IS 



