206 BRITISH SEA BIRDS, 
company as usual, until the eggs are laid, after 
which the latter leaves his mate to bring up the 
brood alone. The Velvet Scoter breeds in the 
Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe and Asia, 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and winters in 
temperate latitudes. The breeding-places are chiefly 
situated on the tundras, amongst scrub or coarse 
vegetation, near the rivers and lakes. The scanty 
nest of dry grass and dead leaves is often made 
under some bush, and, before incubation commences, 
is lined with down from the body of the female. 
The eight or nine eggs are greyish-buff in colour, 
smooth, and with little gloss. As soon as the young 
are capable of flight, a movement south is made. 
SCAUP DUCK. 
This Duck, the Anas marila of Linnzus, or 
fuligula martvda of modern naturalists, derives its 
trivial name from its habit of frequenting the 
‘“‘mussel-scaups,” or ‘‘mussel-scalps,” and is tolerably 
abundant round the British coasts during winter. 
The adult male is distinguished by having the head 
and neck black, shot with metallic-green and purple, 
and the back and scapulars vermiculated with white 
and black. The general colour of the female is 
brown, shading into grayish-white on the belly, 
whilst a broad white band extends round the base of 
the bill. Scaup Ducks begin to arrive off our more 
northern coasts in September, but not until a month 
later in the south. They begin to leave us again in 
