The specimen we give of the American Scoter is one of unusual rarity and
beauty of plumage. It was seen off the government pier, in Chicago, in
November, 1895, and has been much admired.
The Scoter has as many names as characteristics, being called the Sea
Coot, the Butter-billed, and the Hollow-billed Coot. The plumage of the
full grown male is entirely black, while the female is a sooty brown,
becoming paler below. She is also somewhat smaller.
This Duck is sometimes found in great numbers along the entire Atlantic
coast where it feeds on small shell fish which it secures by diving. A
few nest in Labrador, and in winter it is found in New Jersey, on the
Great Lakes, and in California. The neighborhoods of marshes and ponds
are its haunts, and in the Hudson Bay region the Scoter nests in June
and July.
The nest is built on the ground near water. Coarse grass, feathers, and
down are commonly used to make it comfortable, while it is well secreted
in hollows in steep banks and cliffs. The eggs are from six to ten, of a
dull buff color.
Prof. Cooke states that on May 2, 1883, fifty of these ducks were seen
at Anna, Union county, Illinois, all busily engaged in picking up millet
seed that had just been sown. If no mistake of identification was made
in this case, the observation apparently reveals a new fact in the
habits of the species, which has been supposed to feed exclusively in
the water, and to subsist generally on fishes and other aquatic animal
food.
[Illustration: From col. F. M. Woodruff.
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER.]