O I D E M S A F U S (3 A
Velvet
Anas fusca, Litui. Faun. Suec., p. 3!
Melanetta fusca, Boie, Isis, 1822, p.
Oidemia fusca, Flem. Phil, of Zool.,
Anas fuliginosa, Bechst. Naturg. D<
Fuligula fusca, Bonap. Syn. of Bird
T h e marine docks figured in this work antltt -iV tM
fr< am all the other members o f the n u n w o a * « i ■
colouring of the males. The specie»-.. per* s» •
is the largest and in every respect the
Islands, but is also found on the shores M '<M ,-S
is probably identical with the Velvet Sscotssr I*#8®***
rica. Although the Scoters have wiogr nsws
necessitated so to do, they are roost at Horn* ¡>/- kV'
bottom rather than the surface; for they iwiiW''
Shoveller, nor seek their food on the open wskA', %
for diving, and their gizzards for crushing the timid --.¡rifc «f t
search for on the sandy ridges at the bottom o f the w :
the severest storms; and there they may be seen in e.nall coa
number, at one mornent descending to the bottom a y food, am
with the turbulent waves and piercing winds. jBbfbe s e n tfj
Scoter only resort* in winter, arriving in October Pad Nfiwyw
Daring its sojourn here, it sometimes ascends rivjep midk t»
the severe winter o f 1866-7 a splendid old male silled #
instances o f its occarrence inland might he cite«* femt •die'si i
o f the bird are quite exceptional. Although it the «*«#
takes up its quarters in freshwater lakes for ¿’a-- •• o f
to any o f our Highland Lochs, but seeks tb s »
the nursery o f the young o f so many o f psfe bn#*: tw sn fished
their feathers, and assume a now fesBwy 0
the time this change is effected the yrowtg! w , and
upland homes for the sea, and v r m ? '&*-.>?
broods arrive, anti again enliven ©w
takes place; for there, as with a», tbs V*
winter, and retires northward to
there, has given a minute descriptwm d# pmm-vilteig*.
The above is a slight and general aecwmvt ffi 'V MpjMlt Mm «mi
which, as seen with us, much has been
not apply to the professed ornithologist j fer W ^ peribeify !
cannot teach him anything.
St. John in his * Tour in Sutherlandshire * says ; - The Wavy
the sea in small companies, at the distance of about two hundred
some ridge o f sand or other feeding-ground, do wn to * bich they w e
with the tide, till it has carried them beyond the place where they I
distance, looking more like Blackcocks titan Dudt*; and dropp*«
diving till the tide has drifted them beyond the «swl o f their fe
For the following interesting note re*peet**«t tht* species, 1 am »
the Scots Fusilier Guards:— “ I find, on reifj ?. to toy notes, that
ness on the 15th o f April 1865, had the kg* *?.4 toes pinkish mag«
outer surface; the interdigital membranes shay &&&; the eyes t%
described, as I was not at that time so partk'*d*r respecting the w
mon in Gutter Sound between the islands o f Farav and Hoy, and h
?4 fot? -wMfc Scoter, respecting
twrs#f: f<?«R . 'V*;* .tefHark, however, does
-ifasttfew'd vv.sife *W bird, and therefore I
-i-.? i ; >.<>.- • • Docks ride quietly on
inr- apparently keeping over
-H. it:.-; These birds drift along
wd • tW - k- v rise, and fly back -for some
t « i j t i ,&■- the water, they continue their
ditaji^wond; and this they do again and
Jiblcd to the kindness o f Captain Elwes o f
hhI? Velvet Scoter killed by me near Strom-
sAk -. i the inner, and orange-red on their
Is? nigh white; the colour pf the bill is not
qf die soft parts. The bird is very com-
icnffuQ there in flocks o f from two or three to