THE HABITS OF THE LESSER SCAUP DUCK. 



{Ay thy a affinis ) 



One cold March day I stood under an 

 old oak tree upon the shore of Bawbeese 

 Lake, Michigan, watching the waterfowl 

 as they swarmed about above the open 

 water. A steady drizzle had brought out 

 the duck hunters, and the birds were 

 "coming in," as the sportsman terms it. 

 An occasional crow or shivering redwing 

 were the only signs of bird life in the 

 timber, but in a stubble field near by a 

 merry group of tree sparrows had con- 

 gregated. Ther^ was a' sudden whistle 

 of wings, and a flock of twenty-five black 

 and white ducks came down with the 

 wind and were circling about preparatory 

 to alighting, when some overzealous gun- 

 ner blazed away with both barrels. There 

 was another whirl of wings as the entire 

 flock wheeled about and settled down on 

 the opposite side of the lake. Here they 

 were soon joined by other ducks of the 

 same variety and sex until the water up 

 to the icy edge appeared one mass of 

 black with an occasional glitter of white 

 as some drake (there was not a female 

 among them) exposed the lower part of 

 his breast. A second bombardment in- 

 terrupted their revelry and put the birds 

 to rout, leaving one of their company 

 lying motionless on the water. This 

 was a poor exhibition of marksmanship, 

 but it was the first duckshooting I had 

 ever witnessed, and the only wild Lesser 

 Scaups I had ever seen. 



The Lesser Scaup is frequently seen 

 about the lakes and ponds of the Central 

 States as late as June first, usually singly 

 or in pairs. I feel reasonably assured 

 that many birds of this species, like cer- 

 tain other ducks, do not breed until the 

 second spring or summer following that 

 in which they are hatched, which ac- 

 counts for the appearance of the Lesser 

 Scaups upon southern Lake Michigan 



throughout the summer months. The 

 above statement is based upon facts fur- 

 nished by several observers besides the 

 writer. 



In the Devil's Lake region of North 

 Dakota the Lesser Scaups is a common 

 summer resident and breeder, inhabiting 

 deeper water than other ducks, except the 

 canvas-back and redhead, save while 

 nesting. After June first a drake may 

 be seen in company with several females 

 paddling about in the grassy sloughs 

 where many ducks nest. The Scaups are 

 partial to small islands containing 

 patches of grass and weeds with bowlders 

 lying here and there, affording sufficient 

 concealment for the nest and eggs. In 

 this region during the latter part of June 

 an average of twenty ducks' nests were 

 found upon each of a group of several 

 small islands. The nests contained six 

 to twelve eggs each and two-fifths of 

 these were products of the Lesser Scaup, 

 the remainder being deposited princi- 

 pally by the baldpate and gadwall, with 

 an occasional set of shoveller ducks 

 among them. 



Seven to twelve eggs are laid by the 

 Lesser Scaup in this locality, which is 

 the southern limit of their breeding 

 range, but in the far north seven or eight 

 is the maximum, number laid. 



When nesting in the sloughs, a damp 

 (but not wet) situation is chosen. The 

 pale olive or ashy green eggs are well 

 surrounded by down and are generally 

 protected by dead clumps of marsh grass, 

 rushes or low shrubbery. The eggs are 

 elliptical in shape with a smooth, glossy 

 surface ; the average size is two and 

 twenty-five hundredths inches in length 

 by one and fifty-eight hundredths inches 

 in breadth. 



Gerard Alan Abbott. 



