566 



breast glossy black, the bead and upper neck glossed with bottle-green; back and scapulars white, 

 narrowly barred with black : wing-coverts blackish, finely vermiculated with white ; primary quills 

 blackish, the concealed bases of the inner webs brownish grey, secondaries white tipped with black, 

 except some of the inner ones, which are glossy black ; rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail black ; under- 

 parts below the breast white, the lower abdomen slightly vermiculated with black ; crissum and under 

 tail-coverts black; bill and legs light lead-grey, webs blackish; iris yellow. Total length about 18 

 inches, culmen 1"85, wing 8 - 5, tail 2"8, tarsus 1/4. 



Adult Female (Yorkshire coast) . Fore part of the head and chin white ; rest of the head, neck, and breast 

 deep reddish brown ; upper parts dark brown, the back slightly vermiculated with white ; underparts 

 white below the breast, the lower part of which is marked with white ; flanks vermiculated with brown ; 

 crissum and under tail-coverts dark brown, slightly vermiculated with white ; bill and legs darker than 

 in the male. 



Young (Amoy, November) . Resembles the female ; but the upper parts are darker and duller, and the white 

 on the fore part of the head covers a smaller area, and is marked with dark brown. 



Young in down (Oland, 24th July) . Crown, nape, and upper parts uniform dark olive-brown ; throat, sides 

 of the head, and fore part of the neck yellowish white ; a dull greyish band crosses the lower neck, rest 

 of the underparts dull yellowish, the flanks greyish yellow ; upper mandible blackish, tooth of the beak 

 yellowish ; under mandible yellow. 



Obs. The male assumes in the late summer a plumage resembling that of the female ; but the brown on the 

 head and neck is blackish brown, the back is more barred with dirty white, and the beak is lighter 

 blue, and the eyes richer yellow in colour. 



During the breeding-season the Scaup inhabits the northern portions of Europe, Asia, and 

 America, migrating south in the early winter as far as North Africa, Northern India, China, and 

 Mexico. With us in Great Britain it is only a winter visitant ; and though stragglers occasionally 

 remain late in the spring, there is no instance of it having been found breeding in the British 

 Isles. Yarrell says that it seldom appears till the end of October or beginning of November, 

 about which time, if the weather be rough or cold, they arrive in small flocks on various parts 

 of the coast and at the mouths of rivers, but do not often visit the waters of inland counties. It 

 appears to be generally distributed on all our coasts in suitable localities, in the south of England 

 as well as in the north of Scotland, and is said to be more numerous on the English than on the 

 Scotch shores. Mr. Cordeaux says that it is " one of the commonest of our Hurnber Ducks, 

 arriving late in the autumn, about the first week in November, in considerable numbers on the 

 river and along the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire seaboard ;" Mr. Hancock speaks of it as being 

 abundant off the coasts of Northumberland and Durham in severe winters ; and Mr. Robert Gray 

 writes (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 385) as follows : — " This Duck is, perhaps, the least common among 

 the ordinary sea-ducks that frequent the western shores of Scotland. Being partial to mud-flats, 

 it is found chiefly near estuaries, remaining for the most part out at sea in the daytime (where it 

 dives like the Scoters in quest of mollusca and Crustacea), and coming southwards in the evening 

 for a change of diet. I have observed that it will often prefer swimming instead of flying to its 

 night-quarters ; and after repeatedly noticing this habit, I have lain in wait on an outlying 



