O I D E M I A N I G f t
Scoter.
Anas nigra, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 196.
cmerascms, Bechst. Naturg. Deut., vol. iv.
cinerea, S. G. Gmel. Reis., tom. ii. p. 184.
atra, Pall. Zoogr., tom. ii. p. 24?, tab. 18,
Oidemia nigra, Flem. Brit. Anim., p. UP.
Fuligula nigra, Degl., Orn. Europ torn S. p. 4
It will not be necessary for mv it» fe- tofal th#t «er «MMlk
the temperate, and the favY* wimjlhhm tin*
there are persons who ax* YMi g # ® tfeg rife M ■■,
alike; the bird-life o f th#«« end* «f ¡¡n:.-. ?,< fa,< „ *, ,
and Ducks o f peculiar w ;*„*,! r.rn&; Vv„, .
and Eetrfels, hut no Dock*, or MMmgdy anv, inhabit the iljMw 4
I am about to give ¡wiiaiiK to »1«.* iu>rti), and I.k* long* to **&*■■ </;? i *.
to ^ th e genus Oidemia, all the known species of wfefefe,
the icy region*. They are strikingly different in cohanr, avril ••*?.• v - , otMtr form
in the great family of the Amtidee. That nature * mw & ii b m mu ©, evident from
the peculiar coloration o f the birds o f this ge»a*> «hew 4/$** m> w M m ease, assimilate in
any .way with the . objects surrounding them ; ft«' w%*4 i .. >.Vi t,.5- than their jetty-black
colour with the masses o f m tm and Hooting <# f-i'- <,.;>■■■ m vfc* >*<*» they inhabit the borders
o f the inland rivers and lake*, <w- imtoo&a? *0: mx*. »■&«& the* breed ? The black
colouring* o f the Scoters is m m t fm * » * , m # m "4*- wwfcw,m>n whatever of a
white mark on a»v {»art o f tt* phwi«s$e
I& the «»ore temperate latitudes
and was •»murading tb* M M fcftlfefc, *&># .':-,;v. « f Wotimd, France, and Spain, it
take a trip from Dover to
Uftfc knots o f the Scoter, while,
from the deck, strings « 1 f e y •<* «**<?*. >m % «is % <s mid fro between one part of
their feediog-grounds and «mrife*??. £**» Wfefe«*» mut&. ** W a* enumerate the partienlar localities
in wtteh this bird has been the*. ^ « wots*«adtvwhwii the seas for <
A«' -wd fiw rife** «few.- ride-way, we «my- fee sure that it is aacfeed % *fe *» by
tn»ww*vi:Vi w m # , perhtifm front melBjam ,$&- Maternal mjurv 4 this remark, however. «fat# «oft s&ifah f
..sowfi «»asjpnifewB which are said wm: aod th/ea to visit the great lakes o f Cnmfewfe^d,
Saline k*ke> ecre more io unison with rbcrr Hofei* and mode o f life than fresh «¿>r
and other Oastacejins are as plentiful on their simiv bottoms as on the ted id i t e ]> » fcuwl «5 an
menricmed form the principal food o f the Scoter; which, being a mariae Htrik h m 0
nature of fish, and is therefore eaten in France and Spain during Lev.i ntwl «» t«*t-diivs. Bef«»rc w
from our friends across the straits, let me append a published account « f the mode employed in kiUii«
bird. If it te true (and Mr. Yarrell appears not to have doubt««! >1 u >’- at Want shows h<m plentih
Scoter must he on the shores o f the Mediterranean: it also tewtfe to enlighten us as to the vast arom
bird-life in the North during the short summer months; fer U< k msoSeeted that the vast fliK-ks 1
winter in our seas and in the Meditcrraiteaa return to t te ooftherti parts o f the Old World at thh
But to ffche battue!
’ “ I am indebted,” says Mr. Yarrell, “ to H. L. Long, Esq., o f th&mpton Lodge, Farnham, for k n tm
French account, by M. Hugo, o f the motte. i
salt lakes in the vicinity o f at the mouth o f the Rh
quented in winter by large fiorfc
other Ducks arrive in wtaKnm
who can are iiwhiced to unrth
their appe.riiif.-, prattri -biils
stating the intended order trf
The mayors of two or iferee o f
day fixed upon, ail tfe vhnoter