Melanitta deglandi
Order Anseriformes
Family Anatidae
Subfamily Anatinae
♂ Adult male.— Spot below eye, and short, broad patch on wing white; rest of plumage black; bill with much red and orange; legs and feet scarlet.
♀ Adult female.— Spot behind the eye and patch on wing white; rest of upper parts sooty-brown; under parts grayish-brown; bill orange-black; legs and feet brownish-red.
The White-winged Scoter is, perhaps, the most abundant sea duck off the coast of southern New England and Long Island. Its habits and field-marks have been described under the preceding species. Many of our sea ducks show a white wing-patch (see American Golden-Eye; Whistler [Common Goldeneye]), and Red-Breasted Merganser; Sheldrake [Common Merganser]), but no others have black breasts as well.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)