HABITS AND MIGRATIONS OF WILDFOWL, 9 



autumn, loses white face, head entirely sooty black; 4th autumn, 

 attains the glossy (adult) head. 



These Scaups had been feeding upon sea-grass, which was to 

 be seen in their gizzards, chopped up into pieces about half-an- 

 inch long ; fragments of small sea-shells, periwinkles, mussels, 

 &c., were also among the contents of the gizzard, but the crop 

 was quite empty. I believe that sea-diving ducks eat much more 

 grass than is generally supposed. 



Though the Scaup is essentially a diving duck, yet when 

 pursued with a broken wing, one of the above birds showed no 

 tendency to dive, and allowed itself to be overtaken in a way at 

 variance with their wont. They are fond of frequenting sea-weed 

 covered rocks, where they can dive for their food. 



If you see Scaups busy diving, they are nearly sure to be 

 above some submerged tangle-covered reef, or over some bed of 

 mussels known by the name of " scap " in Northumberland. 

 Such a place is their regular feeding-ground, where they can by 

 diving reach the young mussels adhering to the sea-tangles. 



They are also fond of young cockles, small crabs, and the 

 spawn of other molluscs. Scaup, unlike Mallards, are not 

 " flighters ;" they have no regular lines of flight to and from their 

 feeding-grounds. During the daytime they may be found fre- 

 quenting anj^ rocky inlet of the sea, where there is plenty of 

 black seaweed, or about the mouth of some burn running from 

 the slakes proper into the open channels of the tide-way. I am 

 not sure that Scaups ever leave tidal waters, at least in Northum- 

 berland, during the winter months, though with advancing spring 

 they do resort to fresh-water loughs inland previous to taking 

 their departure northwards to breed. With the exception of one 

 solitary instance they have never been known to breed in the 

 British Islands. In Northern Iceland they breed in immense 

 numbers in the month of July, and Messrs. Slater and Carter have 

 recently given, both in ' The Ibis' (1886, p. 45) and ' The Zoolo- 

 gist' (1886, p. 149), a most interesting account of the numbers 

 that frequent that district during the breeding-season. 



Goldeneyes, unlike Scaups, show a preference to freshwater 

 loughs and rivers during their stay with us, and they are not 

 nearly so often found frequenting tidal waters. They are 

 generally in winter one of the wildest of the duck tribe to 

 approach witli a punt, but I must add that on their first arrival 



