lAYE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 219 



under the gad wall. In Manitoba, about Lake Winnipegosis, we found 

 a few nests one of which was in a diflerent situation from any other 

 we had seen ; it was built like a canvasback's nest in the water near 

 the edge of a clump of bulrushes (Scirpus lacusfris), but it contained 

 the dark down and the characteristic eggs of the lesser scaup. Nests 

 have been reported by other observers in such situations, but the 

 nest is usually placed on dry ground. MacFarlane (1891) found over 

 a dozen nests of this species near the northern limit of the wooded 

 coimtry on the east side of the Anderson River, of which he says: 



They were usually found in the midst of a swamp — a mere hole or depression in 

 the center of a tuft, of turf or tussock of grass, lined with more or less down, feathers, 

 and hay. 



Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1909) refere to a nest found by Mr. Littlejohn 

 on an island in Glacier Bay, Alaska; it was at the edge of a small 

 pond "placed within a heavy growth of grass about a foot from the 

 water's edge, and consisted of grass stems lined with a little down 

 from the parent's breast." 



The down in the lesser scaup duck's nest is indistinguishable from 

 that of its largest relative, "clove brown" or "bone brown" in color, 

 with inconspicuous lighter centers. The small breast feathers in it 

 are white or grayish white. 



Eggs. — The lesser scaup duck lays from 6 to 15 eggs, but the com- 

 monest numbers run from 9 to 12. The eggs are like those of the 

 larger scaup duck but they are decidedly smaller. The shape varies 

 from elliptical ovate to nearly oval. The shell is smooth and slightly 

 glossy. The color varies from "ecru olive" or "dark olive buff" in 

 the darkest eggs to "deep olive buff" in the lightest eggs. When 

 seen in the field the deep cafe au lait color of all the scaup duck's 

 eggs is distinctive and unmistakable, but in cabinet sets it has usu- 

 ally faded more or less and is not so conspicuous. It is always much 

 easier to identify ducks' eggs in the field than in collections, for 

 there is usually something about the eggs, the nest, or the bird 

 which is distinctive. The measurements of 88 eggs, in the United 

 States National Museum and the writer's collections, average 57.1 

 by 39.7 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 

 61.5 by 38, 59 by 42.5, and 50 by 35.5 millimeters. 



Young. — Incubation is performed by the female alone and prob- 

 ably lasts from three to four weeks. When the young are hatched 

 she leads them to the nearest water, which is usually not far distant, 

 and teaches them how to escape from their numerous enemies and 

 how to catch their insect food. While engaged in rearing and study- 

 ing young ducks in Manitoba we employed Indians to catch the small 

 young of this and some other species which we did not succeed in 



