DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 
63 
Subgenus Oidemia. 
163. Oidemia americana Swains, American Scoter. 
Plumage dark without white markings ; eyes always brown. Adult 
male : bill swollen back of nostrils, with a large yellow and red spot at 
base, including nostrils ; plumage black or sooty. Adult female: bill 
black, with a trace of yellow at base in breeding plumage, not swollen at 
base; upper parts dusky brown, under parts grayish brown. Young: 
like female but lighter and indistinctly barred below. Length: 17.00-21.50, 
wing 8.75-9.50, bill 1.65-1.80. 
Distribution. — Northern part of North America, breeding in Labrador, 
Hudson Bay region, and Alaska; south in winter to New Jersey, Illinois, 
Colorado, and southern California. 
Nest. — In grass or willows near water. 
The American scoter is a duck of the northern seacoasts, mi¬ 
grating but sparingly into the United States. 
Subgenus Melauitta. 
165. Oidemia deglandi Bonap. White-winged Scoter. 
Bill swollen at base oyer nostrils and on sides; tip orange in male ; 
feathers of lores coming close 
to nostrils, as far forward as 
those of forehead. Adult male : 
eyes white; plumage black or 
sooty, with white eye patch and 
wing speculum. Adult female: 
eyes brown; plumage sooty 
gray, darker above ; wing 
speculum white. Length: 19.75- 
23.00, wing 10.65-11.40, bill 
1.40-1.70. 
Distribution. — Northern 
North America, breeding in North Dakota but mainly north of the United 
States ; south in winter to Chesapeake Bay, Colorado, and Lower Cali¬ 
fornia. 
Nest. — A depression in the ground lined with grass, twigs, moss, and 
down ; usually concealed among dwarf willows, rosebushes, or spruces. 
Eggs: 5 to 8, deep buff. 
The white-winged scoter is more or less common along the Pacific 
coast, but rare inland in the United States. 
Subgenus Pelionetta. 
166. Oidemia perspicillata (Linn.). Surf Scoter. 
Bill with swollen sides of base naked ; feathers of forehead reaching 
to near nostril, of lores only to corner of mouth; bill black and less 
swollen in female ; red, orange, yellow, and white in male, with large 
black spot on side of base. Adult male: entire plumage velvety black 
except for triangular white patch on forehead and another on back of 
head; eyes white. Adult female : upper parts sooty brown, under parts 
silver gray, usually with white patch at corner of mouth. Young: like 
female, but with whitish patches at base of bill and back of ear. Male : 
length 20-22, wing 9.25-9.75, bill 1.30-1.60. Female: smaller. 
