This discovery of the Dutch navigator met with no favourable reception. The custom of eating the Velvet Duck in Lent had been long established; the Church allowed it, and every one was satisfied. Gerard Veer was sent back to his galliot, and all kinds of reasons were found for satisfying the consciences and stomachs of the faithful, which had been justly alarmed. There was, however, no deficiency in the arguments brought forward. It was asserted that the feathers of the Velvet Duck were of quite a different nature from those of other birds; that their blood was _cold_, and that it did not coagulate when shed; that their fat, like that of fishes, had the property of never hardening. The analogy between the Velvet Duck and the fishes being thus clearly established, the permission of the councils remained in full force. Finally, as the writers of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were but indifferent naturalists, and had very vaguely described the Velvet Duck, the same mode of reproduction was ascribed to several other marsh-birds. As a matter of course, the same toleration in Lent was extended to them. The faithful were thus in the habit of indulging in various other birds, such as the Brent and Bernicle Geese. The opposing claims of devotion and appetite being thus harmlessly satisfied, no one cared to object to a supposition which gave such general satisfaction. We must add that this confusion of names still exists, for on the sea-coast several varieties of the Duck genus still go by the name of the privileged bird. There are five principal varieties of this species. The most remarkable are the Velvet Duck (_Oidemia fusca_), the Common Black Scoter (_O. nigra_), and the Great-billed Black Diver (_O. perspicellata_). THE GREAT-BILLED SCOTER. ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Surf Scoters: Selby, McGillivray, Jenyns. Surf Duck, Black Duck: Pennant. LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas perspicellata_: Linn., Latham, Temminck. _Oidemia perspicellata_: Selby, Jenyns, Temminck, McGillivray. FRENCH SYNONYMS.--_Macreuse à large bec_, _Canard marchand_.