3i6 THE COMPLETE WILDFOWLER 



SCAUP DUCK 



Fuligula marila {Linnceus) 



The Scaup is a common visitor to these shores in the 

 winter, when it arrives in large numbers. It breeds in the 

 far north of Europe. It feeds on molluscs, Crustacea, and 

 small fish, which are plentiful on our low, flat, alluvial 

 shores, and goes about in large flocks. Although obtaining 

 much of its food by diving, it is also fond of feeding on 

 the soft ooze left bare by the receding tide. The note is a 

 harsh "scaup." 



It is only during the last two or three years that it has 

 been proved beyond doubt to nest in a particular district in 

 Scotland, where it is strictly preserved. 



The male has the whole of the head, neck, breast, and 

 upper parts black, the mantle being thickly vermiculated 

 with white. Under parts white ; bill greyish blue ; eyes pale 

 yellow ; legs bluish. The female has those parts which are 

 black in the male dull brown, and the vermiculations on the 

 back are whitish and very scanty. There is a white band 

 round the base of the bill. The young resemble the female, 

 but the feathers round the base of the bill show much less 

 white. Immature drakes do not acquire their full plumage 

 for two or three years. Length from 17 to 19 in. ; wing 8*5 in. 



GOLDEN-EYE DUCK 



Clangula glaucion (^LinncBus) 



Inhabiting Northern Europe, this species as a rule arrives 

 here in October, and may be found occasionally on inland 

 rivers and lakes, as well as in estuaries, becoming more 

 numerous in the north. 



It feeds and lives in much the same way as the Scaup 

 Duck, but its nest is placed in holes of trees at some dis- 



