106 
ANSERI FORMES 
Field Marks. The breeding male with its bright yellow bill processes can be recog- 
nized at long range. When this cannot be seen, the largely black, instead of largely white, 
back should distinguish it from any other eider with which it might be confused. Females 
and juveniles can probably be recognized only when in hand. 
Nesting. On the ground of the tundras, or under driftwood on the seashore. 
Distribution. Northern parts of both hemispheres. Breeds along our whole northern 
coast and the islands north of them. We have no records for the western interior or the 
west coast. In winter south on east coast to Nova Scotia. Occasional on Lake Ontario. 
158. Spectacled Eider, l'eider a lunettes. Arclonetta fischeri. L, 21. A larger 
bird than Steller’s, but smaller than any of the other eiders. Below — beginning sharply 
at base of white neck dark slate grey, shading to dark brown on abdomen and flanks. 
Above — largely white with spray of stiff, curved white feathers falling over closed second- 
aries. Head with yellow bill, white throat, sea-green cheeks, a hanging crest of stiff nile- 
green feathers on sides of nape. In front of eyes a spot of sap-green feathers of peculiar 
texture, resembling deep-piled velvet. The most striking feature of the face, however, 
is a circle of soft silvery white feathers about the eye, sharply bordered by a thin line of 
black that suggests the name “Spectacled.” The female is light brown, darker above, 
with broken dark and rusty bars across breast, flanks, and on back. The head is light and 
finely streaked. 
Figure 158 
Spectacled Eider; scale, i. 
Female Male 
Distinctions. The coloration and spectacles of the male are unmistakable. The 
female is easily recognized as an Eider by its crossbarring, and as this species by the 
peculiar circle of finely marked and velvety brownish plumage about the eye, the equiv- 
alent of the similarly situated white eye spot of the male. 
Field Marks. The white body and head, with dull, but not black, crown, and con- 
spicuous white eye spot, should be recognizable at considerable distance. Females are 
probably not recognizable in life except under exceptional circumstances. 
Nesting. On the ground of the tundras. 
Distribution. Coast of Bering Sea and adjoining Arctic coasts. Regularly occurring 
in Canada only on the Yukon coast anti the mouth of Mackenzie River, perhaps straggling 
farther east. 
A very beautiful but locally distributed Eider that is to be expected 
only as a rare straggler away from the western Arctic coast. 
Scoters 
The Scoters, comprising the genus Oidemia, are large, heavily built 
birds, and with the Eiders the largest of our ducks. Males are solid black 
with only small spots of white. The bills are swollen at the base and 
highly coloured. The females are coloured in heavy masses of dark brown 
or nearly black, without distinct pattern. 
Distinctions. The males are the only ducks approaching solid black or with the 
peculiarly swollen bills (Figures 159 and 160). The females are the only solidly, dark- 
coloured ducks without definite pattern. 
Distribution. Northern parts of both hemispheres. 
