DIVING DUCKS.. 217 



the form of small fish, water insects, worms, frogs 



and their spawn, and anything of a similar nature 



found in or near to water. There! is no other British 



Duck whose colour is made up of single, solid tracts 



of black and white, and the presence of the black 



crest in a Duck so marked is decisive. 



SCAUP — 18 inches. Keaembles the Tufted Duck in its black 

 head, neck, upper back, and breast, white speculum and 

 white under parts, but is distinguished from it by the 

 fine zigzag lines in black and white of the upper parts, 

 giving them a gray look. It is without crest, and is 

 found only on the coast, where it appears as a winter 

 visitant. 



SOAUP. — Plate 95. 18 inches. Head, neck, breast, 

 and upper back black ; upper parts gray in appearance, 

 due to fine black cross-lines upon a white ground, but 

 becoming plain black towards the tail ; wings dark, 

 with white speculum, the latter bordered with brown ; 

 under parts white, except beneath the tail, where 

 black again occurs ; bill and legs gray. Female : 

 brown where the male is black, but with clear white 

 patch where the bill joins the head. Males in the 

 moulting, or summer plumage, resemble the females. 

 Winter migrant. 



Distribution. — General round our coasts, but few 

 are found in the south of Ireland. 



The Scaup is essentially a maritime species, resort- 

 ing to inland waters only to breed. It does not, 

 however, breed in this country, though a common 

 winter visitor to our coasts. At that time it may 

 be met, always in flocks more or: less numerous, on 

 the tidal flats and about estuaries, where it feeds 



