338 FEATHERED GAME 
marila, for while many sojourn along the coasts 
of the Middle Atlantic States others spend this 
season among) the West India islands or in ‘Cen- 
tral America. It is my impression that the 
Lesser Scaup is more often a dweller in the in- 
terior than on the salt water; certainly there 
are ten Greater Scaups taken in Casco and 
Merrymeeting bays to one of the smaller spe- 
cies. In nesting habits, mode of life and plum- 
age markings the two are almost identical. 
The Lesser Scaup is entirely American, while 
the Greater Bluebill is a dweller in the Old 
World as well. 
For their markings one description will ap- 
ply to both birds, the only difference in their 
coloring being in the shade of the head—in the 
Greater Bluebill the gloss is greenish; in the 
Lesser the irridescence gleaming through the 
black is purplish. The head, neck, breast and 
upper parts of the back are black. Back, scap- 
ulars, sides and flanks waved with zig-zag pat- 
terns in fine black lines on a silvery gray 
ground. Wing coverts of darker hue and less 
clearly marked, otherwise like the back. Spec- 
ulum white in a black frame. Bill rather 
