THE SCAUP DUCKS. T7 



" hill light greyi.'=;h-hlue or dull-lead colour, nail hlackish ; feet 

 pale greyish-hlue, darker on the joints ; membranes dusky, 

 claws black ; iris rich yellow ; the edges of the eyelids dusky " 

 {A. O. Hume). Total length, 17-5 inches; culmen, 175; wing, 

 87; tail, 2"3; tarsus, i'5. 



Adult Female. — Very much browner than the male, with a few 

 grey specklings on the back ; the lower back and rump some- 

 what blacker than the rest of the upper-i)arts ; wings as in the 

 male, but the coverts darker and the vermiculations obsolete ; 

 crown of head and nape dull reddish-brown, with a large white 

 patch on the lores ; the chin with a white spot ; the chest 

 mottled, with reddish-brown bases to the feathers ; breast and 

 abdomen white ; the lower abdomen and under (ail-coverts 

 mottled with dusky ; the sides of the body reddish-brown ; 

 " bill as in the male, but darker ; feet dull leaden-grey with 

 the webs dusky " (^. O. Hume). Total length, i6*o inches; 

 culmen, i*6; wing, 8*2 ; tail, 2*6; tarsus, 1*4. 



Young Birds. — Resemble the old female, and have the white 

 chin-spot. The young males, according to Count Salvadori, 

 can be distinguished by their darker and richer coloration. In 

 the second year the young male resembles the adult, but has 

 less green gloss on the head and neck, and the black feathers 

 on the breast are margined with white ; the black under tail- 

 coverts are more or less vermiculated and in the vermiculations 

 on the lower mantle, scapulars, and wing-coverts the dark 

 brown colour predominates over the white. 



Hybrids. — The Scaup has been known to interbreed with the 

 White-eyed Pochard and the Golden-eye. 



Characters. — Resembles the Tufted Scaup in having the 

 speculum white, tipped with black, but has no crest, and the 

 back is greyish-white, vermiculated or lined across with zig- 

 zag black markings. 



Range in Great Britain. — The Scaup is a wn'nter visitor, and is 

 common on our coasts from autumn to spring, with the ex- 

 ception of a few localities, such as the Outer Hebrides and 

 the south coast of Ireland. It has been said to breed on Loch 

 Leven in Scotland, where Mr. A. C. Stark states that he found 

 the nest. 



