SCOTERS 
107 
Scoters are expert divers and feed largely on shells and crustaceans. 
In the summer, large flocks of males and non-breeding females gather in 
the middle of the larger waters and on the seacoast in the kelp beds. 
They seem to get most of their food from the bottom, even in water of 
considerable depth. 
165. White- winged Scoter, la macreuse a ailes blanches. Melanitla deglandi. 
L, 22. Plate XI B. 
Distinctions, Always easily recognizable in any plumage by the over-all black or dark 
coloration and the large white wing patch. 
Field Marks. In any plumage, a large, black, heavily built duck with pronounced 
white wing patches. 
Nesting. On the ground, under or among bushes, sometimes in the woods a long way 
from water. 
Distribution, Across the continent. Breeding on the prairies northward. Though a 
common migrant and summering in large numbers off the coast we have no breeding 
records for British Columbia or the eastern provinces. 
This is the commonest scoter throughout most of southern Canada. 
Though it breeds on the prairies from the southern boundary northward 
it is still an interesting problem where the vast numbers of scoters that 
frequent the two coasts at all seasons build their nests. Much more in- 
formation is desired on this point. 
166. Surf Scoter, bottle-nosed diver, skunk-head, la macreuse du ressac 
Melanitla perspicillata. L, 20. Adult male: an all-black scoter with greatly swollen 
highly coloured bill and two sharply defined 
triangular white patches on head; one on the 
forehead, the other on nape and back of neck. 
Female: light brown, lightening on cheeks and 
below, and a more or less well-defined dark cap. 
Distinctions. The male with its solid black- 
ness and two white head patches is easily recog- 
nized. The bill is unique. The base is much 
swollen at the sides behind the nostrils, and on 
this extruded surface is a sharply defined, irregular 
spot of black surrounded with white which shades 
into yellow towards the tip and into red on the 
culmen. 
The female resembles the female American 
Scoter except that the lightness of the cheeks is 
usually broken into two vague spots. The best 
characteristic for separation of any plumage of the Surf from the American Scoter is the 
featheration of bill; the feathers of crown extending a considerable distance down the 
culmen instead of cutting off squarely at the forehead (Compare Figure 159 with 160). 
Field Marks. Under some conditions, rather difficult to distinguish from the American 
Scoter. The lack of white wing patches separates it easily from the White-winged. The 
peculiar bill coloration and the white spots on forehead and nape are distinguishable at 
a considerable distance. The nape spot, however, is not permanent; the white feathers 
composing it are shed at times, leaving an area of black down in its place, discernible on 
close examination from the surrounding blackness by its velvety texture. 
The female is probably not separable under ordinary conditions from the female 
American Scoter. The species is, however, identifiable in flight by the loud whistling 
made by its wings, audible at times, when in flock, for half a mile or more. 
Nesting. In grass, near water. 
Distribution. Across the continent, more common on the seacoasts than inland. 
Apparently it nests in the forest area north of the prairies in Mackenzie and Alaska, but 
substantiated breeding records are few, and there is none at all for British Columbia. 
Like some other ducks it is often present in large numbers throughout the summer off 
Vancouver Island coast, where thousands may be seen, without signs of nesting. This is 
an excellent example of presence in nesting season being insufficient evidence for breeding 
records. 
Figure 159 
Surf Scoter: scale, 
Female Male 
