24 
Oidemia americana Swainson. American Scoter 
This duck was not seen along; the west coast of British Columbia, but 
appeared at Kodiak island, March 21. On March 23, a dozen were noted 
among hundreds of White-winged Scoters and Old-squaws in the sheltered 
waters of Dolgoi bay. From Unalaska, where twenty-five were seen on 
March 26, the species was present in most of the harbours as far as Hito- 
kappu in the southern Kurils, May 7. It was not noted at Copper island, 
Oest, Kamchatka, or Petropavlovsk, At Kyska island and Paramushir 
island the mournful wailing whistle of this duck seemed to add a touch of 
loneliness and desolation to a land that is already lonely and desolate 
enough. 
On the return journey a single black scoter, supposedly this form, 
was seen at Broughton bay, July 13. 
<5 Unalaska, Alaska. March 26 
6 “ “ “ 26 
Oidemia deglandi Bonaparte. White-winged Scoter 
One of the very common ducks over the entire route. It was last 
seen at Kashawabara bay, May 1. Its absence during the return from 
Prince Rupert south seemed more unusual than its abundance during the 
spring, for, in July, numbers of males usually congregate in the inside 
waters off the British Columbia coast, after their short absence on the 
breeding grounds. 
6 Cordova, Alaska. March 15. Plumage like female. 
9 “ “ 15 
6 Unalaska, Alaska. March 26. Full black plumage. 
6 Kyska island, Aleutian islands. April 15. Full black plumage. 
A careful comparison of the bills of these adult males with four Ontario and Atlantic birds of 
similar full maturity, does not show any suggestion of the constriction of the bills of O. d. dixoni, 
upon which the western subspecies is based. The bills of Pacific birds are a trifle shorter than 
those of Atlantic specimens. This is best judged by comparing the under surfaces, but the 
distinction seems slight and too inconstant for nomenclatural recognition. 
Oidemia perspicillata (Linnaeus). Surf Scoter 
The Surf Scoter was common along the inside waters of British 
Columbia and at all points touched as far as Dolgoi bay, but was 
not seen farther west. From the wharf at Prince Rupert, March 5, “a 
flock of Surfs was studied closely and three plumages were apparent. 
The immature males had not yet donned the black and white plumage of 
the adult. They had little, and sometimes no, sign of white on the head, 
but they were blacker than the females, and lacked the whitish or grey 
facial patches that the females show." Again, on March 9, at Juneau, 
Alaska, where about fifty birds were under observation at the waterfront, 
it was noted: “The plumages of the Surf Scoters presented some puzzles. 
The badge of the female is two light grey patches on the side of the head, 
but today new mixtures were seen. One bird had the facial patches, but 
also a very pronounced white patch on the nape and neck. Young males 
today were seen in some strange, black-flecked plumages." 
Many of the adult males were busily courting — as indeed they had been 
doing in more southerly waters many weeks earlier. The habit of swim- 
ming about with the tail cocked up in the fashion of a Ruddy Duck seems 
confined only to this scoter. 
