Western Bird Guide: Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific

by Charles K. Reed

162. Somateria spectabilis. 23 inches.

This species is very different from any of the preceding, the crown being of an ashy blue, and the long scapulars black in place of the white of the others. It also has a broad V-shaped mark on the throat and a black crescent between the eye and bill. Like all of the other Eiders the females are mottled brown and black, the different species being very difficult to separate.

Nest.—These are usually a depression in the ground lined with the down from the breast, and contain from 6 to 10 eggs of a greenish color (3.00 × 2.00).

Range.—Northern North America, breeding along the coast of Siberia, Bering Sea and Arctic coast of America.

SCOTER.

163. Oidemia americana. 19 inches.

Scoters or “Coots,” as they are generally called, are Sea Ducks whose plumage is almost wholly black; base of the bill is yellow and orange. This species nest similar to the Eiders, concealing it under overhanging rocks or in tufts of grass. 6 to 10 eggs of a dull buff color (2.50 × 1.70).

WHITE-WINGED SCOTER.

165. Oidemia deglandi. 22 inches.