The Lesser Scaup Duck 



as they endeavored to breast the spit at sunset. Fire hunting was also a 

 favorite method. The ducks, at rest upon the water after nightfall, and 

 dazzled by the glare of a light at the bow of a canoe, allowed themselves 

 to be clubbed or speared by the unseen foe. 



Scaups have never been in great demand as market ducks. Even in 

 the heyday of San Francisco restaurant life, they used to sell as low as a 

 dollar a dozen wholesale. In the fall when they are grass-fed and fat, they 

 are not such bad eating, but as the season advances the birds depend more 

 and more upon a diet of shell-fish gleaned from the bottom of the bay, to- 

 gether with a liberal admixture of more or less "rich" mud. As a result, 

 the flavor of a Bluebill in February discourages repetition. 



No. 359 



Lesser Scaup Duck 



A. O. U. No. 149. Marila affinis (Eyton). 



Synonyms. — Lesser Scaup. Little Blackhead. Bluebill, (etc, sharing 

 names applied to preceding form). 



Description. — Adult male: Similar to preceding, but smaller; the head not 

 glossed with green, — violet or purplish instead. Adult female: Distinguishable from 

 that of M. marila only by smaller size. Length 381-431. 8 (15.00-17.00); wing 203.2 

 (8.00); tail 58.4 (2.30); bill 41.9 (1.65); tarsus 35.6 (1.40). 



Recognition Marks. — See preceding species; smaller. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in California. Nest: A slight depression in ground 

 in heavy grass, near water, lined scantily with grass-stems and trash and plentifully 

 with down. Down: Brownish dusky with obscure whitish centers. Eggs: 6-10; 

 pale greenish olive-buff (dull yellowish glaucous) to light grayish olive. Av. size 

 56.5 x 39.5 (2.22 x 1.56); index 70. Season: June. 



General Range. — North America. Breeds from the Yukon Valley and northern 

 Mackenzie south to northern Washington, southern Montana, Colorado, northern 

 Iowa, northern Indiana, and northern Ohio. Winters on the Pacific Coast from 

 British Columbia, interiorly from Colorado and the Great Lakes; and on the Atlantic 

 Coast from New Jersey south to the Lesser Antilles, the Gulf Coast, and Panama. 



Distribution in California. — Abundant migrant and winter resident, chiefly 

 coastwise, but also wherever open water offers. Non-breeding stragglers are found in 

 summer; and the species has bred on the reservoirs of San Francisco County. 



Authorities. — Gambel (Fuligtda mariloides), Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., ser. 

 2, i., 1849, p. 226 (Calif.); McAtee, U. S. Dept. Agric, Biol. Surv. Circular no. 81, 

 191 1, pp. 1, 8 (food); J. Mailliard, Condor, vol. xvii., 1915, p. 235 (breeding in Golden 

 Gate Park, San Francisco). 



POSSIBLY the Creator may love the Lesser Scaup Duck, because 

 He has made a great many of them. At any rate, mediocrity seems to be 



1810 



