the southeast 300 to 500 ducks, mainly Lesser Scaup, died in Chocolate Bay 

 following a leak from an oil barge at Port Lavaca, Texas, in the late 1940's 

 (Singleton 1953). Stout and Cornwell (1976) reported that scaup (presumably 

 both species) were the most frequently (47%) reported victims of oiling among 

 banded waterfowl. 



The Lesser Scaup is abundant in winter in the southeast. Although many 

 remain on inland waters, large rafts form offshore and in bays and estuaries. 

 They also occurs around oil-production platforms. A high proportion of the 

 total Lesser Scaup population winters in the southeast, and sizeable numbers 

 often occupy habitats more likely to be oiled than those occupied by other po- 

 tentially highly vulnerable species (e.g., Redhead). Consequently, we think 

 that this species is one that is potentially at very high risk from oil-devel- 

 opment activities in the southeast. Administrators involved in programs devel- 

 oping petroleum resources should carefully consider their programs' effects in 

 areas where this species congregates in large numbers. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



1980 



Windingstad, R. M. , M.E . McDonald, L. N. Locke, S. M. Kerr and J. A. Zimm. 

 1980. Epizootic of occidiosis in free-flying Lesser Scaup. Avian Dis. 



24: 1044-1049. 



1979 



Alexander, W. C. and J. D. Hair. 1979. Winter foraging behaviour and aggres- 

 sion of diving ducks in South Carolina. Proc. 31st Annu. Conf. Southeast- 

 ern Assoc. Fish & Wildlife Agencies: 226-232. 



1978 



Krueger, D. M. and R. J. Whyte. 1978. Lesser Scaup collides with fence in 

 South Texas. Bull. Texas Ornithol. Soc. 11: 19. 



1977 



Forrester, D. J., J. M. Gaskin, F. H. White, N. P. Thompson, J. A. Quick, Jr., 

 G. E. Henderson, J. C. Woodward and W. D. Robertson. 1977. An epizootic 

 of waterfowl associated with a red tide episode in Florida. J. Wildl. 

 Dis. 13: 160-167. 



Hines , J. E. 1977. Nesting and brood ecology of Lesser Scaup at Waterhen 

 Marsh, Saskatchewan. Can. Field-Nat. 91: 248-255. 



1976 



Siegfried, W. R. 1976b. Segregation in feeding behaviour of four diving ducks 

 in southern Manitoba. Can. J. Zool. 54: 730-736. 



310 



