The brownish female shewed a white speculum. _Oedemia nigra_, the Scoter or Black Duck, which nests in North Scotland, ranges over Northern Europe and Asia to the Taimyr Peninsula, sometimes reaching the Azores and the Mediterranean in winter. It is black, with a yellow nasal patch and a swollen base to the culmen, the female being dark brown with greyish face and throat, and no protuberance or yellow mark. _Oe. americana_ of North-East Asia and North America, migrating to Japan, California, and New Jersey, has the knob yellow with red sides, while the female is grey-brown. _Oe. fusca_, the Velvet Scoter, extends from Scandinavia to West Siberia, and occurs {120}exceptionally in Greenland, visiting us in winter, though rarely reaching Spain and the Adriatic; it is black with a white speculum and mark under each eye, the bill being orange with black posterior swelling and lateral line, and the feet dull crimson-red. The brownish female has the white speculum, but a brown bill. The very similar _Oe. deglandi_, of North-East America, has the base of the maxilla entirely feathered, as has the still blacker _Oe. carbo_, of North-East Asia. _Oe. perspicillata_, the Surf-Scoter, accidental in Britain and North-West Europe, inhabits the far north of America and the Asiatic coasts of Bering Straits, wintering down to Jamaica and California. The black plumage is relieved by white patches on the crown and nape; there is a black mark on each side of the crimson, scarlet, and orange bill, the feet are crimson, orange, and black. The brown female has yellowish-orange feet. Scoters are gregarious birds, usually found some way from land except when breeding; the flight is strong; the note guttural, but softer in spring; the food consists of fish, molluscs, and crustaceans. They nest near fresh-water lakes and pools, among heather or grass, and lay from five to eight yellowish-white eggs.