242 SCAUP DUCK. 



habit; thus the Rev. James Smith, in speaking of their first appearance on the Dovern, 

 in Banffshire, says, "On their first arrival, I have approached the brink of the river, 

 and have stood looking at them at the distance of only a few feet. They seemingly 

 took no notice of the circumstance, continued their movements, and appeared wholly 

 unconscious of danger. After a lapse of a few days, however, having experienced probably 

 how formidable an enemy is man, they became as wary and as difficult of approach as 

 at first they were heedless and undismayed by the vicinity of a human being: this 

 circumstance would tend to show that they had come direct from a region where man is 

 not to be seen." The Scaup flies but slowly, and rises from the water with some little 

 difficulty, in consequence of the shortness of its wings. Montagu, in speaking of some 

 that he kept in confinement, remarks, that they "had the same singular toss of the head, 

 attended with an opening of the bill, which, in the spring, is continued for a considerable 

 time while swimming and sporting on the water. This singular gesture would be sufficient 

 to identify the species were all other distinctions wanting." 



The food consists chiefly of shell-fish, aquatic insects, small fish, and a small proportion 

 of vegetable matters. 



The nest is of a very slight description, and is placed near the edge of the water, 

 among coarse grass or reeds, or else among large stones. The eggs are covered with a 

 little down. 



The eggs are five or six in number, of a yellowish brown colour; and measure two 

 inches and three-eighths in length, by one inch and five-eighths in breadth. 



The Scaup is easily tamed, and feeds readily if its food be thrown into water. 



In the adult male the bill is pale blue, the nail, black. Irides, yellow, Head, neck, 

 breast, and upper back, black; the head and neck reflecting green and purple. Mantle 

 and scapulars, white; beautifully marked with waving lines and specks of black. Rump 

 and upper tail coverts, black; tail, dusky black. Primaries, black; secondaries, white, 

 forming the speculum, and tipped with black. Wing coverts and tertials, gray; belly 

 and flanks, white; under tail coverts, black. Legs and feet, bluish gray; the membranes 

 darker. 



In the female the bill is lead-colour, with a broad band of white round the base. 

 Head and neck, dark umber brown; lower neck and breast, darker; upper parts, dusky 

 black; with transverse waving lines of white. Belly and vent, white; under tail coverts, 

 dusky. 



The length of the adult male is about one foot six inches. 



