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The Common Scoter.
(OE demia nigra.)
This is a large diving duck which confines itself to the sea except in the nesting season. It obtains its name from the fact that it is the first of the sea ducks to arrive on the coasts of Britain in winter, and is therefore the scouter or Scoter. At this season its diet consists almost entirely of mussels and other shell-fish which are swallowed whole. These are obtained by diving in water of considerable depth. The male is black all over except for the orange patch on the beak, the female duck being brown with a little white on the underparts, and with a very small knob on the beak.