338 FEATHEBED GAME 



marila, for while many sojourn along the coasts 

 of the Middle Atlantic States others spend this 

 season among the West India islands or in Cen- 

 tral America. It is my impression that the 

 Lesser Scaup is more often a dweller in the in- 

 terior than on the salt water; certainly there 

 are ten Greater Scaups taken in Casco and 

 Merrymeeting bays to one of the smaller spe- 

 cies. In nesting habits, mode of life and plum- 

 age markings the two are almost identical. 

 The Lesser Scaup is entirely American, while 

 the Greater Bluebill is a dweller in the Old 

 World as well. 



For their markings one description will ap- 

 ply to both birds, the only difference in their 

 coloring being in the shade of the head in the 

 Greater Bluebill the gloss is greenish; in the 

 Lesser the irridescence gleaming through the 

 black is purplish. The head, neck, breast and 

 upper parts of the back are black. Back, scap- 

 ulars, sides and flanks waved with zig-zag pat- 

 terns in fine black lines on a silvery gray 

 ground. Wing coverts of darker hue and less 

 clearly marked, otherwise like the back. Spec- 

 ulum white in a black frame. Bill rather 



