156 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFOENIA 



Greater Scaup Duck 



Marila marila (Linnaeus) 



Other names — Scaup; Big Black-head; Greater Black-head; Big Blue-bill; 

 Broad-bill; Shuffler; Black-jack, part; Eaft Euck; Aythya marila; Aythya marila 

 nearctica; Fuligula marila; Fulix marila. 



Description — Adult male: Whole of head, neck, breast, and fore part of 

 back black; sides of head and neck with metallic green reflections; iris lemon 

 yellow; bill pale bluish gray, nail black; back and scapular region white with 

 zig-zag barrings of black; rump, upper tail coverts and tail dull black; outer 

 surface of closed wing slate brown mottled sparsely with fine white dots; 

 flight feathers slate brown; speculum pure white; sides and long feathers of 

 flanks pure white, in some specimens showing faint dusky undulations; hind 

 part of belly, black; rest of under surface white, faintly undulated with 

 duaky behind; legs and feet "plumbeous" (lead gray) (Sanford, Bishop and 

 Van Dyke, 1903, p. 134). Total length 18.50-20.00 inches (470-508 mm.) 

 (Eaton, 1910, p. 206); folded wing 8.35-8.95 (212-227); bill along culmen 

 1.70-1.90 (43.2-48.3); tarsus 1.50-1.57 (38.1-39.8) (nine specimens from Alaska 

 and California). Adult female: Whole of head, neck, breast and fore portion 

 of back dusky reddish brown; a dull white area about base of bill; outer 

 scapulars show faint traces of whitish undulations; back, rump, upper tail 

 coverts, and tail, blackish brown; outer surface of closed wing plain slate 

 brown; flight feathers dusky brown; speculum pure white; sides, flanks, and 

 under tail coverts coarsely mottled with light and dark reddish brown; rest 

 of under surface pure white shading behind into color of under tail coverts. 

 Total length 17.00-18.12 inches (432-460 mm.) (Eaton, loc. eit., and two speci- 

 mens from California) ; folded wing 8.27-8.53 (210-217) ; bill along culmen 

 1.64-1.82 (41.6-46.2); tarsus 1.47-1.53 (37.3-38.8) (six specimens from Alaska 

 and California). Juvenile plumage: Similar to that of adult female, but wing 

 of young male like that of adult male and with head darker than the female. 

 Natal plumage: " 'Crown, nape [^hind neck], and upper parts uniform dark 

 olive-brown; throat, sides of the head, and fore part of the neck, yellowish 

 white; a dull grayish band crosses the lower neck, rest of the under parts 

 dull yellowish, the flanks grayish yellow' (Dresser)." (Eidgway, 1900, p. 102). 



Marks for field identification — Medium size, stout build, dark-colored 

 head and neck, broad "blue" bill, conspicuous white speculum, and white 

 under surface. Male Greater Scaup distinguished from male Lesser Scaup 

 in hand by larger size, greenish instead of purplish gloss on head, and by 

 tendency to white on outer webs of innermost primaries. Female Greater 

 Scaup separable from all other ducks (save Lesser Scaup and Eing-neck) by 

 conspicuous white area encircling base of bill. Female Greater Scaup distinguished 

 from female Lesser Scaup only in hand, by larger size and by tendency to white 

 on outer webs of innermost primaries; from Eing-neck by greater size and by 

 gray instead of white speculum. 



Voice — A soft purring whistle; also, when excited, a loud discordant scaup 

 (Eaton, 1910, p. 206). 



Nest — In tall grass on dry ground, usually not far from water; made of 

 grass and weeds, and well lined with down. 



Eggs — 6 to 11, elongate ovate or elliptical in shape, measuring in inches, 2.26 

 to 2.70 by 1.69 to 1.73 (in millimeters, 57.5 to 68.5 by 43.0 to 44.0), and averag- 

 ing 2.46 by 1.72 (62.5 by 43.5) (twenty-seven eggs in U. S. National Museum) ; 

 in color olive buff (authors). 



