570 



6 



breeds in the Hudson's-Bay Territory, and migrates south in the winter as far as Texas (where I 

 found it common in the winter on the east side), and Mazatlan, in Mexico (where it was obtained 

 by Colonel Grayson on the west side). It has been recorded from the Saskatchawan, the Red- 

 River Settlement, the Great Slave Lake, and various parts of Hudson's Bay, Canada, and New 

 Brunswick. It is rare, however, in the last-named province, and is said to be rare also in 

 Columbia. According to Wedderburn and Hurdis it has been met with in Bermuda, where a 

 young bird was shot on the 19th December 1846, and two on the 8th January 1849. On the 

 west coast it is, as above stated, found from Alaska southward to Mexico. Dall says that it is 

 abundant at Sitka, where it was plentifully obtained by Bischoff. It is one of the first Ducks to 

 arrive, and is common on the Yukon and the sea-coast. I obtained the eggs at the mouth of 

 the Yukon in the early part of June. 



Besides the present species, there is on the American continent another, closely allied bird 

 (Fuligula affinis, Eyton), which differs in being considerably smaller in size, and in having the 

 barring on the back much coarser — this latter species being entirely confined to the Nearctic 

 Region. 



As above stated, the Scaup does not breed in Great Britain, but arrives on our coast late 

 in October, or, in exceptional cases, rather earlier than that ; and its numbers increase until 

 midwinter. It frequents the sea-coast, and is but rarely met with on inland waters, being 

 found in bays and estuaries, frequently in large flocks. It dives with ease, obtaining its food 

 chiefly by diving, and is often seen in company with the true diving ducks. It swims fast, and 

 often sits deep in the water ; and it flies with tolerable speed, usually at no great altitude above 

 the surface of the water, and alights abruptly, as do most of the Ducks, on its hind parts. 

 Mr. Cordeaux says, the Scaups are " usually the last Ducks to leave our waters in the spring. I 

 have seen them off the coast in this parish late in May, the very latest occurrence being a single 

 bird, an old male, on the 24th of that month. These Ducks appear to keep in pairs, male and 

 female, throughout the winter, as we invariably find them in mixed flocks composed of about 

 equal numbers of males and females. The Scaup swims high in the water. They are very expert 

 divers, remaining immersed even longer than the Golden-eye ; and I have frequently known 

 them to continue underneath from fifty to sixty seconds. In the evening at dusk, and on moon- 

 light nights, Scaups leave the water and fly up on the flats to feed ; they are then often killed 

 by our gunners who are lying in wait on the muds for Wigeon and Mallard." Montagu says 

 that both the male and the female have a peculiar habit of tossing up their heads and opening 

 their bills, which in spring is continued for a considerable time while they are swimming and 

 sporting on the water, and they emit a grunting sort of cry. When caught and kept in con- 

 finement the Scaup soon becomes quite tame ; and although in a wild state it feeds chiefly on 

 marine mollusca, yet it soon accustoms itself to feeding on vegetable matter, and will freely eat 

 grain, especially barley. 



Thompson remarks that, though the Scaup feeds by day, yet it is a regular night-flying bird. 

 In the stomachs of a considerable number of specimens, obtained from November to March in 

 various years and all kinds of weather, he found almost exclusively minute univalve shell-fish. 

 These are, he says, " Littorina Uttorea and Littorina retusa, Lacuna quadrifasciata, Rissoa ulvce, 

 Cerithium reticulatum, and Nassa maculata. One was filled with fragments of the bivalve Nucula 



