<h2>THE AMERICAN SCOTER.</h2>
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<p>HE specimen we give of the
American Scoter is one of
unusual rarity and beauty of
plumage. It was seen off the
government pier, in Chicago, in November,
1895, and has been much
admired.</p>
<p>The Scoter has as many names as
characteristics, being called the Sea
Coot, the Butter-billed, and the Hollow-billed
Coot. The plumage of the full
grown male is entirely black, while
the female is a sooty brown, becoming
paler below. She is also somewhat
smaller.</p>
<p>This Duck is sometimes found in
great numbers along the entire Atlantic
coast where it feeds on small shell
fish which it secures by diving. A
few nest in Labrador, and in winter it
is found in New Jersey, on the Great
Lakes, and in California. The neighborhoods
of marshes and ponds are its
haunts, and in the Hudson Bay region
the Scoter nests in June and July.</p>
<p>The nest is built on the ground near
water. Coarse grass, feathers, and
down are commonly used to make it
comfortable, while it is well secreted
in hollows in steep banks and cliffs.
The eggs are from six to ten, of a dull
buff color.</p>
<p>Prof. Cooke states that on May 2,
1883, fifty of these ducks were seen at
Anna, Union county, Illinois, all
busily engaged in picking up millet
seed that had just been sown. If no
mistake of identification was made in
this case, the observation apparently
reveals a new fact in the habits of the
species, which has been supposed to
feed exclusively in the water, and to
subsist generally on fishes and other
aquatic animal food.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/img050.jpg" width-obs="600" height-obs="436" alt="image" title="" /> <span class="caption">white-winged scoter.</span><br/> <span style="margin-left: -30em;" class="sml"><strong>From col. F. M. Woodruff.</strong></span></div>
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<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</SPAN></span></p>
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