twenty from October until the 20th of April, when they in ¡grate to the north. The Sound above mentioned is
their favourite resort ; and although a few are found in the neighbourhood, yet they are never so plentiful
elsewhere. They are strictly marine in their habits, and hardly ever come to land : their power o f diving is
extraordinary, and is not surpassed by any other bird with which I am acquainted, except the Great Northern
Diver ; for they can remain under water nearly two minutes, and always seem to dive to windward, Though
they are usually very wild, yet from their great weight, and the small size o f their wings, they are very slow
in rising, and a shot may easily be obtained by running down on them before the wind, as they are then
obliged to rise towards the boat. They are extremely hard to kill—so much so that, out o f fourteen we
knocked down, only four were procured, all of which were shot in the head. The white bar on the wing is
very conspicuous during flight, and distinguishes them from every other bird. Their food consists chiefly of
small shell-fish, which they procure at a great depth ; and consequently their flesh is very strong and fishy.”
In order to obtain thé correct colouring o f the bill, which Captain Elwes had omitted to note, I wrote to Mr.
J. H. Dunn, o f Stromness, and requested him to shoot a fine old male, and immediately send me the head
by post. This he did, after a voyage of ten miles taken expressly for the purpose; and I should be wanting
in courtesy did I hot here acknowledge his kind attention. With the head were transmitted the following
notes :—
“ The Velvet Scoters generally arrive here early in, or not later than the middle of, October ; they remain
all the winter, and depart about the beginning o f May. Occasionally I have seen an odd one or two later in
the season, but these Were doubtless either unhealthy Or wounded birds. • While here, they are most numerous
about the islands o f Cava, Ryssay, and Fara, and may there be seen in small companies o f from two or
three to twelve or fourteen in number. Their departure and arrival are both very gradual. They begin
to disappear toward the end of April ; and by the close o f May all have left. They reappear in like
manner, and all have arrived about the beginning o f November. In the places above mentioned as many
as sixty or eighty may be seen any day during winter. It is equally plentiful in other parts o f Orkney
besides those above mentioned ; but in Shetland I only saw two or three during a residence o f eleven
years.”
That the Velvet Scoter is occasionally found in considerable numbers on the sea bordering the marshy
county o f Norfolk is certain ; for Mr. Lubbock speaks o f upwards o f twenty specimens having been obtained
there iii the winter of 1829-30 ; and in some notes supplied to Mr. Stevenson by the late Sir William Jackson
Hooker, no less than nineteen are stated to have been killed on the coast, near Yarmouth, in March 1832.
Mr. Stevenson does “ not know of any instance of so many being taken in any one season o f late years ; but
several males, females, and young birds have been shot on the coast during the last few winters* Like the
common species they are occasionally found on the larger Broads, and other inland waters.”
The egg of the Velvet Scoter is very correctly figured in Mr. Hewitson’s ‘ Coloured Illustrations o f the
Eggs o f British Birds,’ from an example in the Lapland collection o f the late Mr. John Wolley, who states
that “ the bird makes its nest under the sweeping branches o f a small Norway pine, if such is to be met with ;
but in the colder regions of the country, it must find some other shelter. When it prefers an island, which
it more seldom does, in the inhabited districts at least, it chooses a dry spot a few yards from the water’s
edge. It is one of the latest breeders among the ducks, and the number o f the eggs is very variable.”
“ The usual number, according to Yarrell, “ is six, and they are o f a nearly uniform cream-colour, two inches
and three quarters in length by one inch and seven eighths in breadth.” Mr. Dann informed Mr. Yarrell that
it is common during the summer months in the interior o f the whole of Scandinavia, north o f latitude
6 0 . It frequents and breeds on the large lakes o f the mountainous districts, especially those o f which
the shores are flat and boggy and covered with vegetation. In Lapland it is numerous everywhere, and the
eggs are much sought after by the natives. It is also abundant in the Dovre-fjeld, appearing at the latter end
of May. They hatch very late, seldom before the end o f J uly. Their nests are placed on hummocks, amongst
the willow-swamps or long grass near the water. They frequent the lakes as high as the birch grows.”
The Plate represents a male, a female, -and some young birds, about the size o f life, the latter being
figured from a specimen kindly lent me for the purpose by Arthur W. Crichton, Esq.