332 BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE SCAUP DUCK. 

 (Anas Marila, Linn. Canard iiiilouinan, Temm.) 



SOME of this species, it is said, weigh only a 

 pound and a half, while others exceed that weight 

 by eight or nine ounces, and measure, when 

 stretched out, nearly twenty inches in length, and 

 thirty- two in breadth. The bill is broad and flat, 

 more than two inches long from the corners of the 

 mouth to the tip, and of a fine pale blue or lead 

 colour, with the nail black: irides bright deep yel- 

 low : the head and upper half of the neck are black, 

 glossed with green: the lower part of the latter, 

 and the breast, are of a sleek plain black; the 

 throat, rump, upper and under coverts of the tail, 

 and part of the thighs, are of the same colour, but 

 dull, and more inclining to brown. The tail, when 

 spread out, is fan- shaped, and consists of fourteen 

 short brown feathers: the back, scapulars, wing 

 coverts, and tertials, are varied from white to deeper 



