422 
ANATID/E. 
is very similar in its habits to the velvet duck, both being 
generally found in the same localities. After the female 
has laid, the males associate in large flocks, and slowly 
draw towards the coast, where they arrive in October. 
The eggs are generally from five to seven in number/' 
Dating from Muonioniska, Mr. Wolley says that this 
species is not very common there, though much less scarce 
than the velvet scoter.—“ It breeds late in the season, in 
islands of rivers and lakes, and in tussocky parts of marshes, 
often year after year frequenting the same place. The 
flocks of Scoters generally hold themselves away from the 
shores, but are much less wild than when at sea in the 
winter. The name by which they are called here means, 
in English, ‘sea bird.' It is very pretty to see this child 
of the ocean—more of a fish than a fowl, as our Roman 
Catholic ancestors held it to be—come to enjoy the holiday 
of the season of love in a sunny lake or river. The notes 
of a number of them together have a wonderfully sweet 
effect. If you wish to give a cockney a correct notion of 
the rich look of a fresh Scoter's egg, you may tell him that 
it is like a fully ripe magnum bonum plum." 
