SCOTER

This article appears in Volume V24, Page 411 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SAR-SCY

SCOTER , a word of doubtful origin, perhaps a variant of " Scout," one of the many local names shared in common by the guillemot (q.v.) and the razorbill (q.v.), or perhaps primarily connected with coot (q.v.),' the

English

ENGLISH

name of the Anas nigra of Linnaeus, a bird which with some allied species has been justifiably placed in a distinct genus, Oedemia (often misspelt Oidemia)a name coined in reference to the swollen

appearance

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

of the base of the

bill

BILL

. The scoter is also very generally known around the British coasts as the " black duck " from the male being, with the exception of a stripe of orange that runs down the

ridge

of the

bill

BILL

, wholly of that colour. In the representative American form, Oe. americana, the protuberance at the base of the bill, black in the European bird, is orange as well. Of all ducks the scoter has the most marine habits, keeping the sea in all weathers, and rarely re-sorting to

land

LAND

except for the purpose of breeding. Even in summer small flocks of scoters may generally be seen in the tideway at the mouth of any of the larger British rivers or in mid-channel, while in autumn and winter these flocks are so increased as to number thousands of individuals, and the water often looks black with them. A second species, the velvet-duck, Oe. fusca, of much larger size, distinguished by a

white

spot under each eye and a

white

bar on each wing, is far less abundant than the former, but examples of it are occasionally to be seen in company with the commoner one, and it too has its American counterpart, Oe. velvetina; while a third, only known as a straggler to Europe, the surf-duck, Oe. perspicillata, with a white patch on the crown and another on the nape, and a curiously particoloured bill, is a not uncommon bird in North American waters. All the species of Oedemia, like most other sea-ducks, have their true

home

in arctic or subarctic countries, but the scoter itself is said to breed occasionally in

Scotland

(Zoologist, s.s. p. 1867). The females display little of the deep sable hue that characterizes their partners, but are attired in soot-colour, varied, especially beneath, with brownish white. The flesh of all these birds has an exceedingly strong

taste

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

, and, after much controversy, was allowed by the authorities to rank as fish in the ecclesiastical dietary (cf. Graindorge, Traite de l'origine des macreuses, Caen, 168o; and Correspondence of John Ray, Ray Soc. ed., p. 148). (A. N.)

End of Article: SCOTER

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/SAR_SCY/SCOTER.html">
SCOTER
</a>

(Previous)
SCOTCH GAMBIT

(Next)
SCOTIA (Gr. o'Karca, shadow or darkness)

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email