SCAUP DUCK. 



npHE various published accounts of this species fail to 

 give a complete history of its economy and habits 

 because this Duck and the Little Scaup, which so much 

 resembles it, have been by nearly all authors greatly con- 

 fused together. So far as my experience enables me to 

 judge, the Big Black Head is a bird that mostly fre- 

 quents the coasts, and is not so often found inland as its 

 relative, which at times is very abundant on our lakes 

 and rivers, and those writers who have mentioned this 

 bird as being so very common in many localities in the 

 interior of the United States probably really have refier- 

 ence to the Little Black Head, quite another species. 



This Duck breeds in the far North, from Alaska on 

 both sides of the mountains across the continent, and 

 possibly to the vicinity of the Arctic Sea. It is also an 

 inhabitant of the Eastern Hemisphere, and is found from 

 the British Islands to China breeding in the northern 

 portions, but not south of the latitude of Lapland. It 

 is found on Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, and on the Yukon 

 River it is plentiful in summer, and is also dispersed 

 throughout its Delta, and along the islands of the Aleu- 

 tian chain. The birds arrive at their breeding grounds 

 from the South early in May, and scatter over the 

 marshes and numerous small ponds, and select their 

 mates preparatory for the nesting season rapidly ap- 

 proaching. A place amid the high grass, close to the 

 water, is selected for the nest, so close indeed that the 

 bird can swim to it. Loose grass, lying about, is 



l6o 



