14<U anatidtE. 



pondj she may have come with other visitors, as the tufted duck 

 and mallard, wild birds of which regularly take up their residence 

 on the pond in winter." 



The scaup is not approved of as food on either side of the At- 

 lantic. Mr. Selby remarks, that " its flesh is rather rank and 

 fishy" (p. 355) ; and Audubon characterizes it in similar terms. 

 In Belfast, this bird is not esteemed, and the fowler sometimes 

 cannot find a purchaser for it. 



Montagues remark (in liis ' Supplement '), that the scaup is 

 " rarely observed upon fresh-water," is applicable to the north of 

 Ireland. It, has not been brought to me from Lough Neagh, 

 nor have I known it to be killed at any inland localities, though 

 no doubt such rarely does occur. A small flock, — among which 

 were several adult males, — was observed on Ballydrain Lake, on the 

 2nd of April, 1848.^ It is said occasionally to visit Lough Beg, 

 in Kerry, as well as the pochard.f I was told by the chief hawker 

 of wild-fowl in Dublin, in December 1849, that he had never 

 received it from inland waters, though nearly all the wild-fowl he 

 disposes of are sent thence. In America, Wilson believes the 

 scaup to be strictly a marine species ; but Audubon met with it 

 commonly on the rivers and lakes in the western parts of the 

 United States. J Tliis bird frequents suitable localities around 

 the Irish coast; is noticed as rare in the north-west of Donegal, § 

 as met \^'itll on the coast of Dubliu^ Wexford, Water ford, Cork, 

 Kerry, on which last it is considered to be very common, || and has 

 been obtained at Achil.^ 



The scaup duck appears to be about equally frequent in Ireland 

 as it is described to be in England and the south of Scotland. 



The Ameuican Scaup Duck {Fuligula mariloides. Vigors), about 

 the specific distinction of which from the common scaup, ornithologists 

 are not generally agreed, has a place in the British catalogue, from the 

 circumstance of a single individual having been purchased in Loudon 

 market. Its name indicates the abode of this bird ; — the European 

 scaup duck is common on the coasts of North America. 



* Mr. Darragh. t" Mr. R. Chute. + Vol. iii. p. 226. 



§ Mr. J. V. Stewart. || Mr. T. F. Ncligan. 1[ Lieut. Reynolds, R.N. 



