. Birds of Britain . bluish black,except the falcate secondaries, which are striped with parts rufous chestnut. The female, except in size, isvery like the Common Eider, but darker. Length 18 in.;wing 8*5 in. THE COMMON SCOTER (Edemia nigra (Linnaeus) This species, except during the breeding season, is almostexclusively a Sea-Duck, spending most of its time somedistance out at sea, only approaching the shallower waternear the shore for food, and rarely entering bays or estuaries,except under stress of weather. It is very common round all our coasts, but commonest,perhaps, in the No
. Birds of Britain . bluish black,except the falcate secondaries, which are striped with parts rufous chestnut. The female, except in size, isvery like the Common Eider, but darker. Length 18 in.;wing 8*5 in. THE COMMON SCOTER (Edemia nigra (Linnaeus) This species, except during the breeding season, is almostexclusively a Sea-Duck, spending most of its time somedistance out at sea, only approaching the shallower waternear the shore for food, and rarely entering bays or estuaries,except under stress of weather. It is very common round all our coasts, but commonest,perhaps, in the North Sea, where flocks of many thousandsmay often be seen during the winter months. The main breeding grounds are the wide tundras ofNorthern Europe and Siberia, but a few pairs nest in thenorth of Scotland. The nest is usually placed on an isletin a small lake or mere, and composed of a few tuftg of mossand heather lined with down. The eggs, eight or nine innumber, are yellowish white in colour. As a rule it is a 262. COMMON SCOTER(Edemia nigra The Common Scoter silent species, but during the breeding season the maleUtters a flute-like tui, tui, tui. The male of this species is of a deep black all over,whence it is often locally known as the Black black with a bright patch of orange yellow down thecentre of the upper mandible. The female and young areiooty brown and lack the orange on the bill. Length20 in.; wing 9 in. THE VELVET SCOTER (Edemia fusca (Llnnsus) This species closely resembles the last in habits, but ismuch scarcer round our coasts and generally keeps fartherout to sea. It is a rather larger bird than the Common Scoter,and of a dense velvety black, with a small white spotbehind each eye and a white bar across the wing. Thebill is orange yellow, with a large black basal knob and anarrow dark line along the culmen. Legs orange. Thefemale is brown, rather lighter underneath, and has a dull-white patch before, and a smaller one behind, each dark. L
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