THE SCAUP-DUCK. '55 



tamest and most stupid of all Ducks, and repeated firing does not appear to render 

 them wild. They build their nests, in remote marshes and swamps, in the second 

 week in May. About Lake Superior they are as common as any other species in 

 the marshes during the summer. 



The Scaup-Duck is a rare visitor to Greenland, but has occurred both in the 

 north and south. In the Shetlands it is found from October to April, but is not 

 common. On the mainland of Orkney it sometimes appears in hundreds on Loch 

 Stennis, and in the Inner Hebrides it is fairly common. A large flock was seen 

 by Mr. Wm. Eagle Clarke, in Hynish Bay, Tiree, on June I2th, 1891, a very late 

 stay if they ever intended going north. In the Outer Islands it does not seem 

 to be anywhere a common Duck. It is very common in flocks off Heligoland 

 in severe winters, along with myriads of others. 



The Scaup- Duck not unfrequently visits inland waters in winter, like Loch 

 Louiond ; also the lakes of Nottinghamshire and the Trent. In Ireland, Sir R. 

 Payne- Gall wey says that this Duck may be seen on every part of the coast except 

 the south, but very seldom on inland lakes. In some parts, notably the Shannon, 

 Galway, Kerry, Dundalk, Donegal, and the northern marine loughs, he has seen 

 two or three thousand together ; when in numbers they are difficult to approach, 

 but when in two's and three's very tame. Sir Ralph mentions a very curious 

 circumstance in connection with these Ducks, namely that they do not appear to 

 be conscious of noise as others do. The lighthouse keepers told him that the 

 birds often swim in and out of the pillars supporting these structures when the 

 men are talking and moving above ; and they do not mind the sound of the fog 

 bell, although other birds at once desert the locality. This perhaps accounts for 

 their seeming carelessness when shot at, the sound of a gun not driving the flock 

 to any distance. In many ways the Scaup-Duck is a peculiar bird. 



The Scaup makes a nest concealed amongst thick herbage, and sometimes 

 quite open amongst the stones on the side of a loch. The late Mr. Seebohm 

 says he always found it well concealed and rarely discovered except by the accident 

 of disturbing the sitting Duck. The eggs, six to nine, pale greenish-grey ; the 

 down dark brown, a little paler in the centre. Mr. Procter, who took the eggs 

 in Iceland, describes them as a " uniform clay-buff colour." 



On the Lincolnshire coast, the Scaup is known as the " Black Scaup " or 

 " Black Poker," also " Mealy-back." On the Durham coast it is the " Bell-Wigeon," 

 other local names on the east coast are " Grey-backed Curre," " Teal-drake." 



The adult male has the bill light grey-blue ; nail black ; irides yellow ; legs 

 and feet bluish-grey ; head and upper neck black, with a greenish tinge ; lower 

 neck and fore part of back and breast black ; tail brown ; rump and tail- coverts 



