OlDEMlA. 
BIRDS. PALMIPIDES. 119 
Leith is said to have seen a pelican, of a brown colour, fly over his head in 
the month of May at Blackheath in Kent, supposed to be the P.fuscus, an 
American species. — Mont. Supp. Orn. Diet. 
Gen. LXXXI. OIDEMIA. Scoter.^ — Bill tumid at the 
base above. 
173. O.Jusca. Velvet Scoter. — Plumage black, with a white 
wing spot. 
Anas niger Aldrov. Will. Orn. 278. — A. fusca, Linn. Syst. i. 196. Penn,. 
Brit, Zool. ii. 583. Temm. Orn. ii. 855. (Trachea, Lin. Trans, iv, 
tab. XV. f. 3-7.) — JS, Velvet Duck, Double Scoter, Great Black Duck ; 
W, Hwyad felfedog. — A regular winter visitant of the coast. 
Size of the domesticated drake. Bill yellow, the swellings at the base and 
margins black, the nail red. Trides and legs red, claws and webs black. Be- 
low the eye a white crescent. Female with the plumage, above, dusky ; be- 
low, whitish. Tumour at the base of the bill less. Breeds, according to 
Temminck, in the Arctic Regions, but it is not mentioned by Fabricius or 
Sabine. 
174. O. nigra. Black Scoter. — Plumage entirely black. 
A. niger, WilL Orn. 180 — A. nigra, Linn. Syst. 1. 196. Penn. Brit. 
Zool. ii. 584. Temm. Orn. ii. u53 — Scoter, Black Diver ; W, Y 
for Hwyad ddu. — A winter visitant of the coast. 
Length 22, breadth 34 inches ; weight 3 pounds. Bill black, orange in the 
middle. Irides brown, eyelids yellow. Legs and feet dusky, the webs 
black. Tail of 16 pointed feathers, cuneiform. Female inclining to dusky, 
the knob at the base indistinct. Breeding place unknown. 
175. O. leucocepliala. White-throated Duck. — Bill blue. 
Front, cheeks, and throat, white. 
Will. Orn. An. 367* {Mont. Orn. Diet. Supp.) Penn. Brit. Zool. ii. tab. 
xcviii — Anas leuc. Temm. Orn. ii, 859 — Rare. 
Size of the preceding. Bill with the middle at the base hollowed. Irides 
yellow. Feet greyish-brown. Crown, nape and lower parts of the neck, 
black ; the front, cheeks, and throat, white. Breast, upper parts and sides 
dark red, waved with dusky. Rump reddish-purple. Tail long, black, coni- 
cal, with the feathers grooved. Plumage, below, reddish-white. Female,^ 
with the crown and nape brown : throat yellowish- white ; bUl and legs red- 
dish — This species seems to be confounded with the preceding. The descrip- 
tion of the female Scoter, by Montagu, has a reference to this species. 
As a straggler may be noticed the O. perspicillata <A. per. Temm. Orn. ii. 
853.) It agrees with O. nigra in wanting the wing spot, and in having the 
plumage black, but the nape and a frontal band are white. The biU is yel- 
low, with a black mark on each side, having in front a space of grey. It is 
said by Temminck to have occurred in Orkney. 
Gen. LXXXII. SOMATERIA. EideI.— Base of the 
bill extending up the forehead, and divided by a triangu- 
lar projection of feathers. 
176. S. mollissima. Common Eider. — Lateral divisions of 
the bill flattened ; bill and legs dusky green. 
