310 THEOU&H THE MACKENZIE BASIN 



of Scirpus lacustris and tall grasses, among which it likes 

 to breed." The Ottawa Museum holds but three specimens 

 (one female and two males) and three sets of eggs, taken at 

 Edmonton, Alberta, in the spring of 1897 ! 



148. Ameeicakt Scaup Duck — Aythya manlla (Linn.). 



Major Charles E. Bendire's receipt list of eggs from 

 Cumberland House, season 1890, records eight specimens, 

 belonging to two nests of this duck, which is certainly 

 a summer visitor of the Saskatchewan Valley. It is fairly 

 abundant in British Columbia, and it is also equally common 

 in mid-northern Canada, but rare at Fort Anderson and in 

 the district of Mackenzie River. Mr. Eoss, however, ob- 

 tained a number of its eggs in 1860-1861. 



The nesting sites are usually a dry, grassy tussock or 

 knoll, close to a pond of water, — a shallow cavity in the 

 ground, lined with grass, feathers and down. The nest con- 

 tains from six to twelve ^gs. The eggs are large for the 

 size of the bird, like those of a merganser, but are more of 

 a buff colour, and their peculiar shape, which is almost 

 invariable, best distinguishes them. The Ottawa Museum 

 contains but one male bird, taken by Mr. S. Herring, of 

 Toronto, and one set of six eggs, taken on James Bay, near 

 Whale Eiver, on 16th June, 1896, by Mr. W. Spreadborough ! 



149. Lessee Scaup Duck — Aythya affinis (Eyt). 



There is a strong impression that this species, while 

 comparatively rare, it is still more abundant and more widely 

 distributed than A. marilla. At all events, we managed to 

 secure over a dozen nests thereof at Fort Anderson, and they 

 were usually found in the midst of a swamp — a mere scooped- 

 out hole or natural depression in the centre of a tuft of turf or 

 tussock of grass, less or more lined with down, feathers, and 

 dry grasses. Nine was the general number of eggs in a nest, 

 though a few contained no more than six or seven. We 

 never tried to collect any at Fort Chipewyan, Cumberland, 

 or St. James. Mr. Eoss procured some of its eggs. 



