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THE SURF SCOTER. 
(Edcmia perspicUlata. 
PLATE VIII. 
Anas perspicillata, Linn . — (Edemia pcrspicillata, Flcm. Sellty, 
4'C. — The Surf Duck, or Scoter of British authors. 
This curiously marked duck will give some idea of 
the form and appearance of the genus now under 
consideration. The bill, which is not so flat and 
becomes more narrowed towards the tip in the more 
typical species, begins to assume the tumid form 
and raised basal protuberance which will be seen in 
the next group of birds or eiders. The Surf Scoter 
is an extremely rare bird in Britain, and even in 
Europe ; the coasts of North America being its real 
habitation. It ha3 been stated by most of our 
modem British ornithologists, that specimens of 
this bird occur now and then in the vicinity of the 
Orkney and Shetland Islands, but we aro not aware 
of any being very lately procured there. In the 
birds of Europe, a specimen is stated to have been 
killed in the Firth of Forth, and Mr. Yarrell re- 
cords another instance of a recent specimen coming 
