200 SCAUP POCHARD. 



resemble more or less the old females : the base of 

 the beak is surrounded by several white feathers : the 

 head and neck are plain black, without the greenish 

 reflections, but they are varied by several blackish- 

 brown feathers : the white on the back is varied with 

 brown spots, and the zigzag lines are closer than in 

 the old bird : the belly is dirty white, spotted with 

 grey : the sides have a blackish-brown spot thereon. 

 In the young females the zigzag lines on the back 

 are indistinct, and are placed on a brown ground. 



" The trachea of the male of this species (Latham 

 says) is rounded on one side, and flat on the other : 

 in shape irregular : the flat surface is for the most 

 part open, except round the rim, and an irregular 

 bony arch crossing it from side to side : independent 

 of this, the surface is covered with a delicate, fine, 

 elastic membrane stretched over it, giving it the ap- 

 pearance of the head of a drum." 



The Scaup is well known in England. It in- 

 habits Iceland, and the more northern parts of the 

 continents of Europe and America : it is also common 

 on the northern shores of Siberia. It is never taken 

 in a decoy, and rarely observed upon fresh water, 

 except near the mouths of large rivers, or in lakes 

 close to the sea. It breeds in the polar regions, and 

 feeds upon small fishes, shell-fish, insects, and marine 

 plants. 



It is easily tamed, and in the course of a few days 

 will become quite familiar, take bread out of the 

 person's hand offering it, and will eat barley freely. 

 Montagu relates a singular physiological fact that 

 he observed in a specimen of this bird, which he 



