BIRDS OF XKW YORK 205 



This is distinctively a nearctic species and is probably the most famous 

 of all wild fowl for the excellence of its flesh. Its flavor is certainly delicious 

 when it has fed for some time on the Vallisneria or wild celery, and is 

 properly prepared for the table. Many epicures prefer it roasted for half 

 an hour in a hot oven so that the body juices flow freely after the knife, 

 some however like it stuffed and roasted for two hours till thoroughly 

 cooked and browned. xYlmost any one of our river ducks vmder ordinary 

 conditions is equal to the Canvasback when it has not fed on its favorite 

 food, and I have usualh' found the redheads from western New York fully 

 equal to the canvasbacks taken in the same region. The female Canvasback 

 can quack almost as well as a Black duck, and also gives voice to a screaming 

 curr-roiv when startled. The males, when together, frequently utter a peep- 

 ing or growling note. 



The Canvasback breeds from North Dakota and Minnesota northward 

 to Great Slave lake and Fort Yvikon, and winters from the Great Lake 

 region and Chesapeake bay to Illinois, Texas and Mexico. 



Marila marila (Linnaeus) 



(Aythya marila on plate) 



Scaup Duck 



Plate 17 



Anas marila Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 12. 1766. i: 196 

 Fuligula marila DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pit 2, p. 323, fig. 252 

 Aythya marila n e a r c t i c a . A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 148 



Description. Male: Head, neck and foreparts of body black, the 

 head and upper neck glossed with greenish with only a slight suspicion of 

 purplish ; back, scapulars and wing coverts and lower belly waved with white 

 and blackish ; rump and tail coverts black ; bell\' white, waved with dusky 

 white in the region of the vent; the long flank feathers also lightly waved 

 with dusky white ; mirror white bordered with blackish ; bill slaty blue with 

 black nail; feet leaden bluish; iris yellow. Female and young: Feathers 

 around base of bill white ; upper parts ranging from ixmber brown on head 

 and neck to fuscous brown on the back, the foreparts more or less margined 

 with ocherous, and wavy bars of white usualh' showing slighth' on the 

 scapulars and other parts so marked in the male; speculum white; belly 

 white; bill and feet somewhat duller than male's. 



