SCAUP-DUCK NESTING IN SCOTLAND 215 



SCAUP-DUCK NESTING IX SCOTLAND. 

 By J. A. HARVIE-BROWN. 



I HAVE received apparently a very authentic account of the 

 Scaup breeding in the north of Scotland, which I reproduce 

 as follows. Mr. H. Noble, writing to me under date of 

 22nd June 1899, says: "It may interest you to know that 

 I found an undoubted nest of Scaup (Fuligula marila) in 

 Sutherlandshire this month. I was staying on Speyside 

 and received a wire from my friend, Captain S , as 

 follows : ' Do Scaup breed in Scotland ? ' I answered that 

 there was no authentic case. He then wrote me that he had 

 been watching a pair on a loch for ten days, and thought 

 they must be nesting. I thought there must be some 

 mistake, and went to see for myself. Great was my joy on 

 seeing a grand old male Scaup and a female. They were 

 not very wild, and, after a short stalk, I got within 20 

 yards of them, and sat watching them with a glass for some 

 time. The male was certainly the finest bird I ever saw, 

 and the female had a beautiful white face. We hunted the 

 edge of the loch most carefully, but saw no sign of any nest 

 except a Merganser's. I then waded across to a small 

 island, and found a duck's nest with three eggs well covered 

 up and in rushes about 5 feet from the water's edge. I saw 

 at once that the eggs were not Merganser's, Mallard's, or 

 Wigeon's, and that they were very like Scaup's eggs I had 

 received from Iceland. We left the loch for a week, and on 

 our return I visited the nest again. I got within 10 feet of 

 the duck, and lay in the rushes watching her for some time 

 close to the nest. I was now nearly certain we were on the 

 right track, but still I had not actually seen her leave the 

 nest, so we retired for another day. She had now com- 

 menced to sit, and I had the pleasure of seeing her swim off 

 the nest, quite close to me. She swam fully 20 yards 

 very low in the water before she took wing. There was 

 now no possibility of a doubt that we had found the right 

 nest. There were nine eggs. The nest was deep, cup- 

 shaped, and better made than most ducks' nests that I have 



