The Velvet-Scoter 
71 
this species, for in most flocks there are only two or three to be seen. One day last month I came across 
eight flocks of Velvet-Scoters, numbering in all 107 birds, and of these five only were females. The first 
lot of three included one female ; with the second lot of twenty-two were two females ; the third lot of 
eighteen were all drakes; the fourth flock of thirty-one contained one female ; the next three lots, of seven, 
ten, and eight respectively, were all drakes ; and with the last lot of eight was one female, which I was lucky 
enough to bag. Is it possible that most of the females remain in their nesting haunts, and that only the 
drakes winter here in any numbers ? It certainly looks rather like it, especially so as in the four species 
which are resident and nest in this country the females outnumber the males in winter." ^ 
In the Tay estuary, where the species is numerous, about 50 per cent, are adult males, 
the rest being a few females and many immatures. In St. Andrews Bay adult males and 
females comprise perhaps 50 per cent, of the local birds, the rest being young birds. 
Whereas in Musselburgh Bay, Leith, and Aberlady 80 per cent, are immatures, and 25 per 
cent, adult males. I have no experience of the Velvet-Scoter on the east and south coasts of 
England ; but from all accounts it would seem that more than 85 per cent, which are to be 
seen or killed are young birds of the year. Thus it would seem that the adult males affect a 
more northern habitat in winter, the adult females a central position, and the young birds the 
southern or warmer seas. This is, I think, an interesting point, for it shows that all these 
sea-ducks are not alike in their sex distribution in winter, for the Eiders, Golden-Eyes, 
and Long-tailed Ducks are distributed according to age in somewhat different areas not 
necessarily according to longitude, but probably according to the variations of particular 
food found in special localities. The different winter ranges in Britain of the last named 
are, however, fully dealt with in other parts of this work. I have never found the Velvet- 
Scoter a very wild bird, except in rough weather, when it is easy for them to take to 
wing, and this is probably accounted for by the fact that their bodies are very heavy, and 
they seem to experience considerable difficulty in taking to flight if there is little or no 
headwind. They are as a rule much tamer than either the Surf- or Common Scoter ; and 
if a boat is carefully manoeuvred so as not to press them at first, a shot is certain. They 
rise head to wind with the usual run-up, and cannot turn away from a boat until they 
have travelled some 30 to 50 yards. The flight is at first accompanied with much noise 
and flapping, and usually performed at a very low elevation. Unlike the other Scoters, 
they usually adopt a " string " formation, and seldom move about in large flocks. It is most 
common to see single birds or flocks of from three to fifteen, each bird following the 
leader at a yard or so apart, and only 2 or 3 feet above the water. In the morning and 
evening these flocks or single birds may often be seen coming up the tideway from the 
deep sea, where they have been resting, preening, or sleeping during the hours of high 
tide, and moving towards their regular feeding grounds. On settling they seem to sink 
into the water with a heavy splash and glide for some distance over the element before 
coming to rest. Though Velvet-Scoters may be fairly numerous in any one locality, I 
have never seen them in a large flock. Between the islands of Cava, Faira, Flotta, and 
Reisa Little in the Orkneys, the winter stock remain in parties of from six to twenty. 
On a shot being fired perhaps one hundred Velvet-Scoters may rise in the immediate 
neighbourhood, but these are all seen to be in separate little parties. Single birds are 
often seen, generally adult males, and I have never seen them consorting with any other 
species. 
^ [This is not the case. The females frequent more southern areas in Britain. — J. G. M.] 
