BRITISH BIRDS. 
325 
(of which a more accurate figure is fubjoined) this 
fpecies cannot eafily be miflaken, although it is faid 
that the knob in fome fpecimens is red j in that of the 
females it is hardly noticeable, and in the younger 
males it is of a fmall fize. The eye-lids are yellow, 
the hides dark, and the whole of its clofe fmooth 
plumage is black, gloffed on the head and neck 
with purple. The tail confifts of fixteen fliarp- 
pointed feathers, of which the middle are the long- 
eft : legs brown. In fome of the young females 
the plumage is grey. 
^ In fevere winters the Scoters leave the northern 
extremities of the world in immenfe flocks, difperfing 
themfelves fouthward along the fliores of more tem- 
perate climates. They are only fparingly fcattered 
on the coafts of England ; but according to Buffbn, 
they appear in great numbers on the northern coafts 
of France, to which they are attrafted by beds of a 
certain kind of fmall bivalve fliell-fifli, ( vaimeauDc J 
which abound in thofe parts, and of which they 
are very fond, for they are almoft inceflantly diving 
in queft of them. Over thefe beds of fliell-fifli, the 
fifliermen at low water fpread their long nets, float- 
^ ed or fupported horizontally two or three feet from 
the fand: thefe they leave to be covered by the 
overflowing tide, which alfo brings the Scoters 
prowling along with it, within their accuftomed 
diftance from the beach. As foon as the firft of 
them perceives the Ihells, it inftantly dives, when 
