4(5 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Ten is the usual number of eggs ; but seven or eight are often 

 found, and sometimes as many as thirteen. They vary in length 

 from 2'45 to 2 - 2 inches, and in breadth from 175 to 1'65 inch. 

 They scarcely differ in colour from eggs of the Scaup, Tufted 

 Duck, and Pheasant. Small eggs of the Pochard are indis- 

 tinguishable from large eggs of the Tufted Duck. The down is 

 almost of the same size and colour as that of the Mallard, 

 greyish-brown, without white tips, but with obscure white 

 centres ; it is not nearly so black as that of the Tufted Duck. 



THE SCAUP. 

 (Fuligula marila.) 



Plate 14, Fig. 2. 



The Scaup is a regular and common winter visitor to the 

 British Islands, where it is widely distributed on most parts of the 

 coast. It has been observed throughout the summer (especially 

 in the Shetlands), but only one instance of its having nested in 

 this country is on record. It is a circumpolar bird, breeding 

 throughout the Arctic Kegions as far north as lat. 70°, and in a 

 similar climate above the limits of forest-growth on the mountains 

 of Southern Scandinavia. On the American continent it is not 

 known to breed south of the Hudson's Bay Territory. The 

 Scaup generally selects some sloping bank, not far from water, but 

 high enough from the edge to be secure from floods, on which to 

 build her nest. It is well concealed, and seldom to be found 

 except by accidentally frightening off the sitting Duck. Some- 

 times it is placed under the cover of a willow or a juniper bush, 

 but more often in the open, carefully hidden in some hole in the 

 rough ground, surrounded by cranberries or bilberries struggling 

 amidst tufts of sedge or cotton-grass. The hole is lined with dry 

 broken sedge, and, as the eggs are laid, an accumulation of down 

 is formed sufficient to keep them warm when the Duck leaves 

 them to feed. 



The eggs of the Scaup are from six to nine in number, pale 

 greenish grey, almost the same colour as the typical egg of the 

 Pheasant. They vary in length from 2' 7 to 2*4 inches, and in 

 breadth from 1'75 to 1*65 inch. The down is as large as that of 

 the Mallard, dark brown, without pale tips, but with obscure pale 



