2 
SCOTER. 
do these birds collect in the vicinity of the mussel-banks about Goring and off other parts of the coast 
of west Sussex in winter and early spring, that T have not unfrequently heard the fishermen, while discoursing 
on the subject in answer to inquiries, remark how many acres of Coots* they had seen. 
During January and February 1882 I passed several days in steaming up and down off the Norfolk 
and Suffolk coast from Hasborough to Southwold, in order to study the habits and actions of the various 
species of Ducks resorting to the salt water off these sandy shores, and having mounted a breech-loading punt- 
gun on the bows there was little difficulty in procuring any specimens required. Scoters were met with over 
the whole distance, straggling parties of from a score to three or four times that number being generally seen 
about Horsey, Winterton, Caister, and Yarmouth Roads, while off Corton, Pakefield, and Covehithe, and still 
further soutli, they were not unfrequently observed in flocks of from three to five hundred strong. As I 
was anxious to procure specimens showing the various stages of plumage, several shots were fired and some 
curiously marked young males obtained. When first approached the birds took little notice of the steam- 
boat ; the same flock would, however, seldom permit a second chance for inspecting their ranks till 
several hours had passed. On one occasion (January 21st) we steamed slowly towards about three hundred 
busily feeding over a bank within a quarter of a mile of the sandy beach at Pakefield ; when little over a 
hundred yards distant the whole l)ody dived, and putting on fidl speed we reached the spot where they 
had disappeared before a single bird had risen to the surface. For at least fifty or sixty yards round the 
vessel the water seemed alive with birds as they popped up almost as instantaneously as they went under. 
A few again ducked down in their alarm, but the greater number sprung at once on wing, affording an 
excellent chance for securing with the shoulder-gun two or three exhibiting a curious mottled plumage. 
Ilad slaughter been desirable, and the steamboat eased or stopped about sixty or seventy yards sooner, a 
heavy shot might have been obtained ; to kill more than were required, however, was useless, as this 
species, like the rest of the family, is utterly unfit for the table, its flesh being rank and unpalatable. 
On the 11th of February, while steaming towards the north, a shot was fired from the big gun about half a 
mile off Winterton ; a fresh breeze was blow'iiig from the north-east, and the crew’ of a yawl stationed at 
the look-out near the beach evidently mistook the sound for a signal from one of the floating light-ships. 
In less than a minute sixtv or seventv men were busilv engaged in rumiinj? their craft down the sands, 
and a strong crew’ having been taken on board, they put off at once, evidently bound for the ‘ Cockle,’ our 
attempts to induce them to turn back being utterly disregarded. On the 14th immense numbers of Scoters, 
together with flocks of Velvet Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks, as well as a few Scaup Ducks, were met with 
scattered over the roads betw een Yarmouth harbour and Corton Church ; not needing specimens, ample 
opportunities were afforded for closely examining the various parties. The peculiar form of a short-tailed bird, 
however, attracted attention, and this oddity I w’as enabled to procure with the shoulder-gun, causing but little 
alarm to any of the surrounding fowi. On lifting the unknown to the deck in the deidle the species was 
readily ascertained, viz. a Common Scoter, in all probability suffering from wounds ; the wings and the 
plumage on the head, neck, and portions of the back were much the same as those of immature males, 
though somewhat lighter, while the only covering on the rest of the body was a thick down mottled with 
grey and brown, the absence of the tail-feathers rendering its appearance especially strange. 
There are usually every winter large flocks of Scoters harbouring at sea just off the boat-sheds in 
w’hich my punts are housed on the shingle-banks near Shoreham ; a few birds, usually old males, often 
separate from the main bodies, which generally keep about a mile at sea, and singly or in small parties 
of two or three fly in towards the shore and alighting outside the breakers dive busily for food. On the 
10th of January, 1881, I happened to turn the glasses on to one that approached within the distance of 
eighty or one hundred yards, and remarked that, though apparently a fully adult male, the bird showed 
• In several parte of Sussex the name of Coot is given by the seafaring population to the Common Scoter. 
