188 FULIGULIN^E. FULIGULA. 



small, slender, little arched, rather pointed. Plumage dense, 

 firm, glossy ; on the head and neck very soft, and silky or 

 velvety ; wings short, convex, narrow, pointed, of twenty- 

 six quills ; the first longest ; tail very small, much rounded, 

 or cuneate, of fourteen stiffish tapering feathers. 



Black, white, and grey are the prevailing colours of the 

 plumage. The birds of this genus feed on vegetable sub- 

 stances, shell-fish, Crustacea, insects, and larvae. In sum- 

 mer they resort to the arctic marshes and lakes, and in win- 

 ter reside on fresh or on salt water. They procure their 

 food chiefly by diving. 



262. FULIGULA MARILA. BROAD-BILLED SCAUP-DUCK. 



Male twenty inches long, with the bill broad, enlarged to- 

 ward the end, two inches long, an inch and a twelfth in 

 breadth, dull light greyish-blue, with the unguis blackish ; 

 feathers of the head short ; head and upper part of the neck 

 greenish-black, the rest of the neck, fore part of the back and 

 breast, and hind part of the back, black ; the rest of the back 

 and the wing-coverts greyish-white, finely undulated with 

 dusky ; outer secondaries partly white ; breast and sides 

 white ; hind part of abdomen and lower tail-coverts dusky ; 

 tail brownish -grey, of fourteen feathers. Female with the 

 head, neck, and fore part of the back and breast, brown ; a 

 broad band of white on the forehead ; upper parts blackish- 

 brown, in part undulated with whitish ; middle of the breast 

 white, sides and hind parts dusky brown. Young nearly simi- 

 lar to the female. 



Male, 20, 32, 9, 2, 1&, 2 T \, f V Female, 18, 29. 



The Scaup-Duck arrives on our coasts in the end of Octo- 

 ber, and continues to increase until the middle of winter. In 

 the estuaries and along the flat shores, it is met with plenti- 

 fully, often in very large flocks ; but it also sometimes betakes 

 itself to fresh water. Its food consists chiefly of mollusca, 

 which it obtains by diving. Its flight is moderately quick, 

 generally low. In the end of March and beginning of April 

 it disappears from our coasts. The species occurs equally in 

 North America. 



Scaup Duck. Spoon-bill Duck. 



Anas Marila, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 196. Anas Marila, Lath. 

 Ind. Ornith. ii. 853. Anas Marila, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 

 ii. 865. Fuligula Marila, Broad-billed Scaup-Duck, Mac- 

 Gillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 



