AVES. 
264 
only ill the year, the change of colour of the males, about midsummer, taking place without a renewal 
of the feathers.] Among them we may distinguish 
The Scoters {Oidemia, Fleming) — 
By the breadth and inflation of the bill. [Their plumage is chiefly deep black, and they are found 
almost exclusively in salt water, where they prey mostly on Testacea. Feet particularly large. 
Two species are not uncommon in the British seas— the Common or Black Scoter {Anas nigra, Lin.), entirely 
black, with an orange protuberance at the base of the bill, and orange-coloured legs ; which is the most abundant, 
and has swollen bronchi ; and the Velvet Scoter (A. fusca, Lin.), which is larger, with pink feet and black mem- 
branes, a white band on the wing, and spot of the same at each eye, its trachea having a sudden box-like enlarge- 
ment about the middle. A third, allied to the last, the Surf Scoter (A. perspicillata, Lin.), occasionally strays 
from America, and is distinguished by the triangular patches of white on the crown and occiput : females of all 
I dusky. 
The author adds certain species to this genus, with stiff and pointed tail-feathers, forming the Oxyura, Bonap. ; 
as the A. leucocephala, Pallas ; and A. lobata , Shaw ; which latter, a New Holland kind, is remarkable for a 
large fleshy appendage hanging under the bill. The A. rubida of Wilson is referable to the same natural 
division.] 
The Garrots {Clangula, Leach) — 
Have a shorter bill, which is narrower in front : and at their head we place a species with the middle 
tail-feathers very long, which renders the tail pointed. [This bird, forming the division Harelda of 
Leach, is quite distinct from the others, and moults twice in the year.] 
The Long-tailed Hareld {An. glacialis, Lin.).— White, with a fulvous spot on the cheek and side of the neck, the 
breast, back, tail, and point of the wing, black : [scapularies broadly edged with rufous-brown in summer, con- 
siderably longer and pure white in winter, when they hang over the wing, as in the Eiders.] Its trachea, ossified 
towards the base, has on one side four square membranous facets, above which it is inflated into a bony labyrinth. 
[A very active and noisy marine species, not rare off the coast of Scotland in winter, flying in small flocks. 
Further north, it becomes exceedingly numerous.] 
The Harlequin Garrot \,An. histrionica, Lin.).— Ash-coloured, the male fantastically, streaked with white; eye- 
brows and flanks rufous. [Also chiefly a marine species, not very closely allied to the remainder. 
The rest have a very large head, or which appears, rather, to be so from the fulness of the plumage, and are 
remarkable for their sexual disparity of size. They are chiefly found in fresh water, and prefer to breed in the 
hollows ot trees, as severally observed by Linnaeus, Hewitson, and Audubon. One is a common winter visitant in 
Britain]. 
The Golden-eyed Garrot {An. clangula, Lin.).— White, with a black head, back, and tail, a round white spot before 
each eye, and two white bands on the wing ; female ashy, with rufous head : the middle of the trachea is very 
much enlarged, but preserves its flexibility, and it again becomes singularly widened towards its divarication. 
[The little BulFel-headed Garrot {An. albeola, Lin.), common in North America, is nearly allied]. 
The Eiders {Somaieria, Leach) — 
Have a longer bill than the Garrots, ascending higher upon the forehead, vrhere it is cut into by an 
angle of the feathers ; hut which is still narrower towards the tip. [These birds are more particularly 
allied to the Scoters, with which they accord in their exclusively marine habits and food. 
There are two species, both with long white scapularies, hanging laterally over the wing, and black and white 
plumage in the adult male. The Common Eider {An. mollissima, Lin.), with a singular green stain on each side 
of the neck ; and the King Eider {A. spectabilis), remarkable for a huge protuberance over the base of its upper 
mandible. Both yield the celebrated Eider down of commerce]. 
After these separations, there still remain 
The Pochards {Fuligula, Leach), — 
The beak of which is wide and flat, but offers no other marked distinguishing character. We possess 
several species, in all of which the trachea terminates by nearly similar labyrinths, forming a capsule 
to the left, in part membranous, supported by a framework and ramifications of hone. 
[Three are very common in Britain,— the Scaup Pochard {An. marila, Lin.), grey, with leaden-coloured bill, and 
green-black head and neck, which is chiefly found in salt water; the Red-headed Pochard (^./mna, Lin.), ash- 
coloured, with rufous head and neck, and black breast, nearly allied to which, but larger, is the celebrated Ame- 
rican Canvass-back {A. ualisneria, Wilson); and the Tufted Pochard {A. fidigula, Lin.; F. cristata, Auct.), 
purple-black, with pendent occipital crest, and white flanks and belly. A fourth, the White-eyed Pochard 
{A. nyroca, Gm.), is not common, and is distinguished by its maronne head and neck, the latter encircled with a 
black collar, and a white spot on the chin. A fifth, the Red-crested Pochard {A. rufina, Lin.), is larger than any 
of the foregoing (except the American), with elongated, bright ferrugineous, coronal feathers, and the rest mostly 
dark : this bird belongs properly to Asia, and is only known as a straggler so far west. Lastly, the Pied Pochard 
{An. Stelleri and dispar), with plumage not unlike that of an Eider, another native of eastern Asia, has likewise 
