794 I'll''- AMERICAN SCAUP DUCK. 



No. 318. 



AMERICAN SCALP DUCK. 



A. O. U. No. 148. Manila marila 1 IJiin. 1. 



Synonyms. — Scaup. GRiiATiiR Scaip. I'>mi: - nn.i,. Shuffler. Raft 

 Duck. 1'.lack-iii:ai). Flocking Duck. 



Description. — Adult male: Head and lU'ck lilack with green gloss; foreneck 

 all aronnd and breast rich ])urplish black; a collar aronnd neck obscurely lighter; 

 belly and sides pure white ; back and scapulars vermiculate or \vav\ -barred black 

 and white, — the white bars wider in frtmt, becoming much narrower behind ; ter- 

 tiaries, lower back, and tail-coverts sooty black ; flanks sooty brown ; wing-coverts 

 blackish, speckled sparingly on tips with white : speculum white, tipped with 

 blackish ; axillars and under wing-coverts chiefly white ; bill dull blue with black 

 nail, broadening and much hooked at tip; feet dark plumbeous and with darker 

 webs; iris yellow. .Idiilt female: Region about base of bill (least on chin) 

 white; head and neck plain snuff brown; fore-neck and breast dark brown, edged 

 and tipped with lighter; sides and crissuni dark grayish brnwn. the former de- 

 cidedly, the latter obscurely vermiculated with white; belly white, shading into 

 brown marginally; upperparts brownish dusky, the tii>s nf feathers speckled or 

 obscurely vermiculated with white; wings, bill, etc., as in luale. Length 17.50- 

 20.00 (444.5-508); wing 8.65 (219.7 I; tail 2.90 (73.7); bill 1.75 (44.5) : tarsus 

 1.50 (38.1 ). 



Recognition Marks. — Smaller than Mallard; head, neck antl breast black 

 ( female brown ) ; bellv and sides white (male) ; bill bluish with black nail. Larger. 



Nesting. — Not known td breed in Washington. Xest: on the ground in a 

 grassy swamjj, of grasses, etc., lined with feathers and dcnvn. Eggs: 6-10, pale 

 grayish olive or bufify. \\. size 2.54 x 1.71 ( 64.5 x 43.4 ). 



General Range. — Nc.irth .America, breeding far uurtb. Snnth in winter to 

 (Tuatemala. 



Range in Washington. — Common winter resident and migrant thrunut the 

 State; abundant in winter on I'uget Sound, especially in ])rotected harhorv. 



Authorities. — Fiilix mania I'.aird, Baird, Re]). I'ac. R. R. Snr\-. l.\. 1858, 

 p. 791. T. C\S. L-. Rh. D-. Kk. B. E. 



Specimens.— ( U. of W.) Prov. P.. BN. E. 



.A'P Seniiahmoo Spit, upon our northern boundary, the P)luel)ills begin 

 to arrive from the North about the 20th of Sejjtember, and their numbers are 

 augmented fur at least a nmnth thereafter. The earlier arrivals cnme in small 

 flocks of from a dozen to twenty-tive individuals, b(jrne u])on the wings of a 

 northwest breeze, and as they pass the narrow jiromontory of sand, the waiting 

 gunners exact toll of those wdiich enter the hiirbiir. L^iion the waters of the 

 inner bav, Drayton Harbor, the incoming birds assemble in a great raft, five or 

 ten thousand strong, and, if undisturbed, deploy to dive in shallow water, 



