THE SCOTERS. 
47 
Adult Male. — Vclvety-black all over, with a white alar specu- 
formed by the lips of the greater coverts being white, as 
"’ell as the secondary-quills ; eyelids and a small spot under 
the eye white ; bill pale orange or apricot-yellow, the base and 
^dges black, with a diagonal line of black running from each 
nostril to the nail of the bill ; feet and toes dull crimson-red or 
orange-red, the webs black ; iris chalky-white. 'I'otal length, 
22 inches; culmen, 17; wing, 10-4; tail, 27; tarsus, i-8. 
There is some discrepancy between the descriptions of the 
parts of this Duck. I have given them as described by 
Count Salvadori and Mr. Howard Saunders. 
Adult Female. — Brown, instead of black, with greyish margins 
to the feathers of the upper surface; wing-coverts like the back, 
the greater series not tipped with white ; a white wing-speculum 
formed by the white secondaries, the outer ones of which are 
edged with black at the ends ; a slightly indicated white patch 
no the lores and ear-coverts ; under surface of body brown, 
yith a little whitish on the breast ; bill brown ; feet paler than 
•o the male ; iris brown. Total length, 21 inches ; wing, 10-2. 
Young Birds. — At first resemble the adult female. The young 
■^ales in their first spring plumage resemble the adults, but are 
•tot so glossy. 
Nestling. — May be distinguished from the nestling of the 
Common Scoter by being whiter underneath and by having a 
"bite spot on the wings. 
Characters. — Besides the white alar speculum, the length of 
the commissure or gape of the bill is much more than the 
length of the inner toe, without its claw. Count Salvadori also 
points out that the feathers of the head advance farther for- 
"ard on the lores than they do on the forehead. On account 
of these differences the Velvet Scoter is sometimes generically 
separated from the others as Melanonetta fusca. 
Hange in Great Britain. — A winter visitant, along with the Com- 
mon Scoter, being more abundant on our eastern coasts than 
on the west, and the same is the case with Scotland and 
Ireland. A male bird has been recorded by Mr. Bolam as 
having frequented the vicinity of Berwick-on-Tvveed all the 
summer of 1879, until the middle of September, and Mr. Booth 
