SCAUP. 469 



he was a young man, about the " thirties " or " forties," the 

 fowlers of those days did not as a rule trouble with Scaup, 

 confining their shooting to the " game ducks " ; he, however, 

 used to shoot them and sell them for 2|d. each to a carrier, 

 who took them to Stockton market. One stormy day at the 

 Teesmouth my informant crept close up to a pack of fully 

 five hundred of these ducks, but his old flint lock " snapped." 

 In the winter of 1864-65, when wildfowl were abundant 

 in the Humber, this species also occurred in immense flocks ; 

 it is a regular and numerous visitor there, and may be found 

 all through the winter months, being especially numerous 

 in severe seasons. Mr. Francis Hoare states Ln a letter, 

 dated 9th January 1880, that, after strong north-east gales, 

 he has known them to come up to Paull bight below Hull, 

 when he has killed great numbers ; sometimes the flocks 

 remained there all the season. In the winter of 1890-91, 

 and in the severe weather of the early months of 1895, it 

 was unusually abundant in the Tees Bay, several large flocks, 

 composed entirely of adult birds, frequenting the Teesmouth 

 and the immediate vicinity of Redcar, when I shot some 

 fine specimens from the deck of Coatham Pier. 



At other stations on the coast this duck is observed more 

 or less commonly, and, as at the Tees and Humber, is occasion- 

 ally very numerous in hard winters off Whitby, Scarborough, 

 Filey, and Bridlington. 



On inland waters it is frequently found in the imma- 

 ture plumage, but old males are scarce. Chas. Hatfield in 

 " Historical Notices of Doncaster " (1866), stated that it 

 came to the Decoy throughout the winter months ; Allis 

 recorded it in several instances ; on Walton Lake it was 

 noted in some numbers in 1882 ; it often occurs on the river 

 Hull near Beverley ; and it has also been reported from 

 Hiendley Reservoir, near Wakefield ; Nostell, Ackworth, 

 Fewston, Allerton, Pateley Bridge, Bedale, Malton, and 

 other places which need not be particularized. 



It departs in spring, having been observed off the coast 

 a^ late as May. 



As to vernacular names, it is known as Black Scaup 



