Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Scoter \Sco"ter\, n. [Cf. Prov. E. scote to plow up.] (Zo["o]l.)
   Any one of several species of northern sea ducks of the genus
   {Oidemia}.

   Note: The European scoters are {Oidemia nigra}, called also
         {black duck}, {black diver}, {surf duck}; and the
         velvet, or double, scoter ({O. fusca}). The common
         American species are the velvet, or white-winged,
         scoter ({O. Deglandi}), called also {velvet duck},
         {white-wing}, {bull coot}, {white-winged coot}; the
         black scoter ({O. Americana}), called also {black
         coot}, {butterbill}, {coppernose}; and the surf scoter,
         or surf duck ({O. perspicillata}), called also
         {baldpate}, {skunkhead}, {horsehead}, {patchhead},
         {pishaug}, and spectacled coot. These birds are
         collectively called also {coots}. The females and young
         are called gray coots, and brown coots.