210 BULLETIN 126, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



" there is little doubt that the males of this species go out to sea as 

 soon as the females have laid their eggs and there molt into the eclipse 

 plumage. I never saw any about the tundra ponds after incubation 

 had begun. " The female evidently assumes full care of the young 

 also, leading them about in the ponds and marshes and teaching 

 them to catch flies and other insects. Mr. Hersey came upon a 

 female with a brood of nine young in a large pond out on the tundra. 

 She did not fly or dive, but, calling her young about her, swam to 

 the farther side of the pond. As he walked around the shore she 

 kept at a distance and would not allow him to come nearer. When 

 he withdrew she came ashore with her brood and led them away. 



Plumages. — The downy young scaup duck is a swarthy duckling, 

 deeply and richly colored with dark brown on the upper parts. 

 The crown, hind neck, and entire back are a deep rich "raw umber," 

 darker than any color in Kidgway's standards, with glossy reflections 

 of bright "argus brown"; this color invades the lores and cheeks 

 and shades off gradually on the neck and sides into the color of the 

 under parts; the sides of the head and neck are "old gold" or "olive 

 ocher," shading off to "colonial buff" on the throat and to "cream 

 buff" and "cartridge buff" on the belly; an area of darker color, 

 approaching that of the upper parts, encircles the lower neck and 

 fore breast and invades the posterior under parts, restricting the 

 light-colored heWj. There are no light-colored spots on the scapu- 

 lars and rump, as seen in the surface-feeding ducks. All the colors 

 become duller with increasing age. The white plumage of the breast 

 and belly is the first to develop, then the brown scapulars, the tail, 

 the head and the back ; the young bird is fully grown before the last 

 of the faded down disappears from the neck; and the wings are the 

 last of all to be developed. This flapper stage lasts all through 

 August and into September, while the adults are also flightless and 

 in the partial eclipse plumage. 



In the first fall plumage in September young birds of both sexes 

 are much alike and resemble the adult female superficially, but the 

 white face is confined to the lores and chin, instead of including the 

 forehead, as in the adult female, and it is more or less mottled with 

 brown; the head, neck, and chest are paler brown than in the old fe- 

 male. At this age males can generally be distinguished from females 

 by having the lesser wing coverts somewhat vermiculated with gray- 

 ish white. In October young birds begin to assume a plumage more 

 like the adults in both sexes and a steady progress toward maturity 

 continues through the winter and spring. During October the green- 

 ish-black feathers begin to appear in the head and neck; the brown 

 feathers of the back are replaced gradually by gray vermiculated 

 feathers; and the first white feathers vermiculated with black appear 

 in the scapulars. In November the first black feathers appear in 



