The Greater Scaup Duck 



direction. It is then, and especially when breasting the waves of a gale- 

 swept bay, that the birds appear most lordly, most capable, most like a 

 fleet of battleships. These ducks, also, are powerful upon the wing. Some 

 consider them the swiftest of ducks, though I will back a Pintail or a 

 frightened Teal, for a shorter flight. The sound made by their rushing 

 wings is thrilling music, and the noise of a flock, hydroplanes now, settling 

 upon the open water, all brakes set, is an experience not to be forgotten. 



Unfortunately, the Canvasback, in spite of his century-long dis- 

 cipline of leaden hail, is a somewhat unsophisticated bird. Fearful enough 

 of mankind, he, nevertheless, yields to the allurement of the first wooden 

 duck which offers, and this in spite of the tell-tale blind hard by. At such 

 times he is easy meat. Or, as one authority artlessly puts it, "By carefully 

 choosing the last one to dive each time, a whole flock can sometimes be 

 brought to bag." 



At nesting time, also, this long-suffering soul submits to further 

 impositions. Ruddy Ducks and Mallards impose their offspring upon her 

 care. Even the Redhead, unmindful of her own sufferings in this regard, 

 often lays her eggs in the big basket of her still more indulgent sister. 

 \\ "here both species are common, as in the lake country of Alberta, it is 

 sometimes a pretty problem to determine which is which. It is the rightful 

 owner, usually, who strips the down from her breast ; and this, in the case 

 of the Canvasback, is always gray. 



No. 358 



Greater Scaup Duck 



A. O. U. No. 148. Marila marila (Linnaeus). 



Synonyms. — Scaup. Greater Scaup. Blue-bill. Shuffler. Raft Duck. 

 Black-head. Flocking Duck. 



Description. — Adult male: Head and neck black with green gloss; foreneck 

 all around and breast rich purplish black; a collar around neck obscurely lighter; 

 belly and sides pure white; back and scapulars vermiculate or wavy-barred black 

 and white, — the white bars wider in front, becoming much narrower behind; ter- 

 tiaries, lower back, and tail-coverts sooty black; flanks sooty brown; wing-coverts 

 blackish, speckled sparingly on tips with white; speculum white, tipped with blackish; 

 axillars and under wing-coverts chiefly white. Bill dull blue with black nail, broadening 

 and much hooked at tip: feet dark plumbeous and with darker webs: iris vellow. Adult 

 female: Region about base of bill (least on chin) white; head and neck plain snuff- 

 brown; fore-neck and breast dark brown, edged and tipped with lighter; sides and 

 crissum dark grayish brown, the former decidedly, the latter obscurely, vermiculated 

 with white; belly white, shading into brown marginally; upperparts brownish dusky, 

 the tips of feathers speckled or obscurely vermiculated with white; wings, bill, 

 etc., as in male. Length 444.5-508 (17.50-20.00); wing 219.7 (8-65); tail 73.7 

 (2.90); bill 44.5 (1.75) : tarsus 38.1 (1.50). 



1807 



